Magic Numbers
by juliasejanus
Summary: Seven is a 'magical' number.  The number of the occultist and the esoteric.  Seven's are secretive, mysterious, stand-offish, intuitive and introspective. An unworldly attitude means most seven's need to be 'protected'. Harry Potter born as the seventh month dies and as the seventh horcrux to be protected and adored by his creator and soul-brother. AU Chamber of Secrets.
1. Chapter 1

The life force from Ginerva Weasley bled into the plain muggle diary resting on the floor next to her unconscious form. Her magic gave form to the horcrux of Tom Riddle. He rose from the diary's pages imbued with her pure essence, the magic of a seventh child. A quirk of fate had lead to his rebirth via such a strong symbol of virtue and strength. As his form took shape he reached out his senses, the feel of distant touch of the magic of his creator, as he drew in the magical connection to his original form. Tom abruptly collected himself... there was another soul vessel in this Chamber of Secrets. Blue eyes searched ignoring the young boy sat by the prone form of the youngest Weasley. Tom knew the boy was the Potter Heir, his prophesied nemesis. Tom drew magic from the chamber to himself, the horcrux was near and alive.

The spectre like form floated forward to the boy and touched Harry. The magical connection between them was like a huge electrical shock. Harry's magic was young, wild and proved the boy was a mage, as yet untrained and ignorant. Tom grew solid from the huge jump start of energy from the boy and severed the weaker connection to Ginerva. She had served her purpose by opening the chamber. A trap for the Potter boy.

Tom looked at Harry Potter taking in the features of the young boy laying on the chamber floor, the shock of the two horcrux's connecting had overwhelmed the boys senses. He was dazed. The brief touching of the two soul fragments had caused Tom to view Harry's memories and he sneered, another mage growing up in Magical Britain, abused and unwanted in a Muggle environment. Tom knew that Harry would be aware of his own life. Such similarities between them.

Tom did not touch the prone boy again but hissed in parseltongue, "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four.." He watched the basilisk slither into the Chamber. "Great Protector take the girl child to the bathroom. There the teachers will find her. She has done her duty. Harm no others and rest."

Tom was at an impasse, he had physical form, his creator was a wraith. He needed to ascertain his position and that of the Potter boy. The boy would be ignorant no longer. He now possessed the same knowledge as Tom himself. Decisions would be made for both of them. New opportunities and new plans needed to be formed. This child was precious, a strange feeling imbued the newly reborn Dark Lord, possessiveness was a strong personality trait but empathy and protectiveness were a novel experience. Above all he had to keep his brother-horcrux safe from harm and away from the manipulator of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore.

Harry stirred, and was enveloped in a rush of memories and knowledge. He opened his eyes to find himself still in the chamber but with a not so strange boy dressed in Slytherin Robes. He knew the boy, his name, his life, his hopes and desires. Harry felt a spike of empathy and understanding.

The newly reborn form of Tom Riddle had watched over his charge for several hours, as Harry recovered from magical exhaustion. "Good Evening Harry. I am Tom Marvolo Riddle. Ginerva is safe and is being looked after by Madam Pomfrey as we speak. The Basilisk is again sleeping. I have heard from the portraits that Ronald is uninjured. I am afraid Professor Lockhart is quite addled from his own memory charm."

Harry processed this and his new knowledge. He sat silent and thought of the lies and ommissions in his life so far. The abuse and the scorn of the school this year had already tainted his views of Hogwarts. The influx of Riddle's memories meant he could see his life so far for what it was. He had been the pawn of the headmaster. Tricked into Gryffindor with two Dumbledore worshipper's for best friends. "Do they think I'm dead?"

"That is what the teacher's and the Ministry have concluded. The chamber entrance to the Girls bathroom is sealed." Tom knew both Fudge, the entire Hogwarts Board and Amelia Bones were upstairs.

Harry looked at his fingers and conjured bluebell flames, the flickering ghosts of heat dances on his flesh but did not burn. "So I'm a mage and your soul-brother?"

"Yes, we are... family." said Tom and meaning it. His world had been tipped on its axis as much as Harry's had.

Harry looked at the handsome form of Tom Riddle and smiled "I always wanted family."


	2. Chapter 2

In the grey predawn two figures made their way unopposed past Hagrid's hut and into the Forbidden Forest. There was no groundskeeper to notice their breaking of school rules. Only the centaurs watched the two wizards walking through the forest. Both were students, so they went by without being challenged. Firenze had spent the night stargazing, he noted the figures, who passed just as the stars faded and the day came. A strange development, it offered the duality of hope and destruction, to who the centaur did not know, but it was a beginning and an end.

Harry carefully watched Tom as they walked in silence. There had been a smaller secret exit to the chamber. Salazar Slytherin, always paranoid of traps, had built in an emergency exit into the school's grounds. The connection of the two horcruxes had caused an inforeseen reaction with the young mage's magic. A sharing of knowledge and experiences between the older, primary horcrux to the younger, seventh horcrux and to its vessel. It was a strange quirk of happenstance. Horcruxes were meant to be kept separate, kept hidden and secret; but two had connected without the stabilizing presence of the originator. Tom could only guess that they needed to find the creator, the wraith in the wilderness, to answer the questions the two soul-brothers now had.

Harry stopped abruptly just behind the seventeen year old as he had paused just before the ward boundary. For the first time Harry took time to sense the magic of Hogwarts, it prickled on his skin. A sensation both energizing and familiar. Then, both boys looked back to gaze at their home, as the castle was that to both of them. Tom then appraised Harry. "We will leave and not come back, not as students anyway. You have no need of the limited curriculum taught there. You will learn different more challenging magic now."

"Dark magic?" asked Harry suddenly worried that he was irrevocably changed, dark and evil, to be hunted down and destroyed by the ministry.

Tom heard the break in the younger wizard's voice as he had spoken and reassured him, "No, do not worry, your magic has not changed. You are a true light mage. Do not mistake those that serve the Ministry or Albus Dumbledore as beacons of the light, neither are. I am dark, you are light. We are opposites. I think you are truly suited to defensive and medical magic. We will find out when we visit Gringott's."

"The bank?" queried the young boy, puzzled at Tom's statement.

"The Goblins do far more than just guard gold." The handsome tall figure shock his head at Harry's ignorance at his heritage. "We are cousins, both of us descendants of the founders and the Peverells. It was at Gringotts I found out where I inherited my parseltoungue ability from, that I was the heir of Salazar Slytherin, that I was a mage. I was 12. Nothing could stop my quest for knowledge then and my questioning why as a pureblood heir was I left to live with muggles." With a derisory snort Tom continued, " In fifty years nothing has changed. I was denied my heritage by my mother's misplaced love for a vain and proud muggle. I think you have been denied knowledge of your family for more nefarious purposes."

It had been an epiphany for Harry to see the actions of others for what they truly were. "I am.. was a pawn. I was down beaten and abused by my relatives. They brought me up to be never question, never study, never excel, to be worked to the point of exhaustion for their gain, to be isolated and alone. I thought magic was wonderful. Hogwarts was my home, I had friends for the first time." Harry saw that it was all the veneer of perfection to a lonely, hurt and emotionally crippled child.

Tom moved to touch his brother's arm, "Why the past tense Harry?"

"We are family now. I ... I think much more was going on than just controlling me. Since I came to the magical world, the isolation, taunts and tasks were to train me. Us connecting was not meant to happen. I was meant to save Ginny, on my own again, just like last year." Harry looked again at the castle as the sky turned orange and gold in the dawn. Harry turned away to look into the blue eyes of his companion, knowing his thoughts and emotions were clear to see. "Hogwarts is beautiful, but its not my home. I was told it was meant to be like my family. It was more like the Dursley's than I thought possible. I know you want to nurture and protect me. Thats more than anyone has ever done for me. They all told me my parents were great people, but no one was there for me. Did my parents have no friends? You... well, your older self was fighting a war to protect the magical world, not destroy it like I was told. I understand wars. People fight, people die. To end a war everyone has to find common ground to move forward. Victors write history and everything I've been told was not the truth or not the full story. My mother and father fought for muggles. If so, then why did my aunt hate me and her so much and not revere her sacrifice? Things don't add up and I was never meant to question things. I started to think for myself this year when everyone hated me, slandered me and thought the worst of me. Sometimes you have to do things for yourself." Harry knew Hermione and Ron would be fine without him, both would be now irrelevant to Dumbledore's master plan was now his chief chess piece had been removed from his control.

Tom knew Harry was grieving for his past wishes and hopes. This was the fate of all children, the twelve year old had had a rude awakening. "Come, we'll get to Gringott's and sort out your inheritances and your inherited gifts and talents."

At six, the Leaky Cauldron was open but the barkeep, Tom, was still asleep and the night staff were cleaning for the new day. They paid no heed to those who passed through to the rear yard. It was just more customers or workers for the Alley.

Like the Leaky Cauldron, Gringotts was open 24/7. Business was not limited to daylight or ideas of a normal working day. The night brought different customers to the bank; those who lived beyond the normal constraints of wizarding society, the thiefs, whores, drunks and the dark creatures.

Tom stood before the night teller.

The goblin sneered "State your business!"

The young mage gave a short clipped bow "We seek the manager of the Potter and Black accounts"

"Gardblak is available at 8, come back then." The night teller sent a memo to the manager and left it at that. The affairs of Hogwarts and hearsay of the supposed demise of Harry Potter were no concern of Gringotts or its employees. The family magic showed the Potter heir was alive. The fact no wizard asked them for the truth was no concern of theirs either. They served the vault owners only, not the Ministry of Magic nor the Headmaster of Hogwarts.

The day dawned and the Ministry ordered the school shut for the official investigation. Like fifty years ago a student had died. Only this time it was not some insignificant muggle-born, but the Potter heir, the Boy-who-Lived. It was already known that a dark artefact imbued with the spirit of the Heir of Slytherin had possessed both the youngest Weasley and Harry Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

Gardblak had had no contact with the Potter heir since the death of his parents. Statements and correspondance had been directed to the boy's magical guardian and he guessed, not a thing had not been discussed with the muggle raised boy. Last summer he had not even been into the bank. It was as if the boy was being kept from the wizarding world. The boy was famous but that was not the reason. Albus Dumbledore had fingers in many pies and he seemed to be controlling the Potter boy for some reason. The fact that the Black heir had been incarcerated in Azkaban without a trial was also worrying. Sirius had directed Gardblak to control his personal wealth, with the passing of Walburga Black the entirety of the Black Holdings were now part of Heir Potter's estate.

This morning another wizard had come into the bank with the Potter Heir and enquired of the account manager. The goblin sat and read the hearsay and conjecture in the Daily Prophet. As usual the paper reported no real facts and just rehashed the speculation about the boy's life and his parent's deaths. The grimace on the goblin's face made his teeth look particularly vicious. 07:55:32. Gardblak would have answers soon.

The Offices of the Account Managers was on the floor below the main bank reception area and the teller's desks. Two guards accompanied the two wizards to their appointment and into the heart of Goblin territory. The jurisdiction of the Ministry of Magic ended at the front doors of the bank. Most purebloods distrusted other magical creatures at best, despised and abhorred was more common a reaction, but despite this a Wizard and Witch would rather trust their wealth to a lowly goblin than the thieves, incompetents and fools at the Ministry of Magic.

Tom had given Harry a short lecture over breakfast on Goblin etiquette. Be polite and respectful. Listen and never laugh. Goblin's never joke.

"Honoured Account Manager, I am Tom Marvolo Riddle, I am hear to speak for and guide Heir Potter."

"Well said, Wizard. Sit we have much to discuss and I am sick of non answers from Mr. Potter's acting Magical Guardian."

Tom interest was peeked, acting guardian? That mean he had more leeway than he originally thought.

Harry found out about his father's position in the Wizarding World, James Potter had never taken his seat as Lord Potter in the Wizengamot, after Charlus Potter's death in 1978. The death of the elder Potter had freed James from an unsigned marriage contract. He had married Lily Potter within 3 months. Harry inherited four vaults, including a growing amount of bequests and gifts from the Public enamoured by the Legend of the Boy who Lived. His father rather than the penniless drunk had been eccentric and extremely wealthy. His gift to his bride had been the financial security of her squib sister and her feckless husband.

His mother was an account holder in her own right. She had inherited the properties and vaults of two squib lines. Not wealthy but comfortable even before factoring in her known muggle holdings, left to her from her own parents estate.

Harry let Tom maneuver and take control. The Potter Heir had no official guardian, his muggle relatives had never applied for his guardianship officially in either the muggle or magical worlds. Harry had just been placed on the doorstep and existed in their home. Albus Dumbledore acted as his Magical Guardian without actually consulting or guiding Harry. The headmaster had made withdrawals from the Potter Vaults and paid money to several of his friends. Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle and Molly Weasley were in receipt of regular deposits.

Finally the Potter Ring was brought up from the vault, as the only surviving magical heir of an Ancient and Noble House, who was over the age of eleven, Harry could be emancipated with the proviso that he had an adult wizard to act as a steward or regent. Tom was sworn in there and then as Steward to House Potter.

Then came the discussion of Harry's own magical gifts and inheritances. He was a mage. He was a decidedly light wizard. The Goblin took Harry's wand and examined it closely. Harry watched the creature smiled. "Lord Potter you can speak to snakes" A statement of fact was spoke neutrally without the normally associated scorn and horror.

"Yes, you are correct, Account Manager Gardblak" Harry was still unsure of this ability. That gift alone had lead to most of the school shunning him.

"It is the sign of a powerful wizard. Salazar Slytherin inherited the gift from his mother, a famous midwife and healer. Dare I suggest you study in this area. Your power and natural gifts would make you a truly magnificent addition to the medical world. In Africa and Asia, you could learn parselmagic specifically for healing. In central America, Parselmouths are seen as beloved on the Gods and are known as seers. I would suggest you learn Runes, Numerology, Arithmancy, Herbology and Potions. Your mother was a gifted spellcrafter especially in Charms whereas your father favoured Transfiguration and Warding. Mr. Riddle is very accomplished in Warding himself. The ICW itself does not recognise the definition of Dark magic, most other counties even in Europe, are not as blinkered or short sighted as the British Ministry. I suggest you study abroad as Mr. Riddle did." The Goblin then looked at the seventeen year old wizard in front of him, none of his senses could find fault with the human, but Tom Marvolo Riddle seemed to have come back from the dead as a younger, perfectly healthy mage. Riddle was not a vampire, an inferi, a zombie or ghoul. He had entered in daylight, he had sworn a magical oath and was not an impostor, all interesting facts in themselves.

Harry pondered on the knowledge he had been given. At Hogwarts he had put down to study Divination and Care of Magical Creatures because Ron had. He had since found out his Magical Guardian was meant to have accessed his abilities and guided his courses accordingly. Apart from the two meetings with the headmaster concerning the Chamber of Secret's Harry had had no contact with the man. If he had not been so tired he'd be seething. He let the truth of his potential slide and concentrated on his holdings.

"Can I make a few suggestions regarding my holdings?" asked Harry after Tom had suggested a full audit and accounting for the sums removed by Albus Dumbledore.

"Of course, Lord Potter" the Goblin agreed and appraised the young wizard closely. He had expected the boy to remain quiet and observe.

"I wish the Holdings in Grunnings Drills to be liquidated, immediately." Harry had decided to allow his aunt to live in the house his father had bought but he refused to keep her husband in a job just because James Potter had been the major share holder and had bought Vernon the directorship. His parents were dead and their wishes died with them. Harry was damn sure, Vernon Dursley would be on the dole by the end of the week. Payment enough for them slandering his parents at every opportunity.

"Selling such a large amount of stock will depress the market. We will make a considerable loss." stated the Goblin. He was stating a fact of dumping a large amount of shares at once.

"The Drill Company has only broken even for several years. We would be better cutting our losses now."

"As you wish." The Goblin looked at the boy's aura spike with anger in contrast to his cool outer demeanour. Lord Potter at 12 was making a business move out for revenge alone. The Goblin would investigate the boy's family. For him to make them possibly destitute they must have been poor parental figures indeed.

Harry then looked at financial statement of his vaults. "The vault containing gifts and donations for the Boy who Lived. Make it a Charitable trust. Invest in new businesses, especially for muggleborns, help dark creatures and those the Ministry shuns."

"That will take time and require much thought." stated Tom.

"I want to oppose the status quo. It is a long term goal and might have to wait until I'm able to direct more time and resources to it." Harry had noted most laws were for the betterment of purebloods, all others were marginalised. Helping the dispossessed and those without a voice was a good way to start changing things.

"An admirable way to use the money. I will find a young like minded muggle born to start the project off."

"Yes start small. Thank you both for agreeing to my requests."

The goblin could see Harry Potter would be a political player as formidable as Riddle had grown to be. Wizarding society better beware.

Tom noted Harry looked very tired. "I fear we will retire to our lodgings to eat and rest. I bid you good day, Account Manager. We leave the Potter holding in you expert hands. Feel free to owl us bout any concerns or any interesting developments."

Both wizards stood an gave curt bows and were escorted to the banks secluded side exit.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry noted Tom heat some muggle tinned goods and conjure some plates and cutlery with ease. They were holed up in a dingy room off Knockturn Alley. Tom had explained about having safe places to stay and bolt holes across Britain and Europe. Even at the height of his power Tom had not trusted even his own inner circle. This was one of his bolt holes, warded for all except those who could speak parseltongue. Harry was too tired to care and ate mechanically, stripped of his grimy school uniform and slept, uncaring at the other boy sleeping in the same bed as him. Tom stroked the messy black locks of the younger boy. He knew the practicalities of the Potter Estate had been barely covered. No Lord of an Ancient and Noble House would ever allow his heir be brought up by muggles. Tom understood how he had fallen through the cracks and the manipulation of Albus Dumbledore to keep him humble and in his place, but Narcissa Malfoy or Andromeda Tonks should have brought up the Potter Heir as Cousins of both Harry's Grandmother and Grandfather. Even Minerva McGonogall had a right of regency. It did not make sense for them to abandon the boy and keep him ignorant of his birthright.

Harry woke in a cocoon of warmth and familiar magic. He had never felt so protected and safe. He was touching another, hugging his brother. Harry sat up to see Hedwig perched outside on the narrow window sill. Opening the small window, Harry let in his owl, his friend and he stroked her beautiful feathers and let her nip his fingers affectionately. He sat and saw red light glisten off the tall buildings in muggle London. Hedwig put her head under her wing perched on the one chair in the room and Harry crawled back into his cocoon of warmth, snuggling close to Tom and fell back to sleep.

...

Hogwarts had closed early. Albus sat in his brother's bar and tried to take stock over the events of the last few days. Cornelius Fudge was no longer Minister of Magic for his ineptitude and misuse of power. Albus had been reinstated as headmaster and Lucius Malfoy had been thrown off the Board of Governors. Hagrid had been freed but was inconsolable in his grief for Harry. Ginerva Weasley had told the story of an enchanted diary and writing to Tom Marvolo Riddle all year, her black-outs and her loneliness. The fact that Harry had also written in the diary was found out by talking to Ronald Weasley and the newly revived Hermione Granger had found out about the basilisk. Albus now was certain that Harry had been possessed by the spirit in the diary. He had lost control over the prophecy child, who had a good pure soul. The boy's magic would have restored Tom to his full power. Lord Voldemort had returned.

He still had much to do. the Potter inheritance would be a legal nightmare. Albus was sure he could persuade the Wizangamot to assign it to a fund managed by himself. The wills of Lilly and James would still be sealed. Everyone trusted Albus Dumbledore to act in societies best interest. It was a shame about the Weasley girl, she would have made the perfect wife for Harry, she had been prepared for that role since the contract had been drawn up in 1982, signed by Muriel and Molly, matriarchs of the family. Most assumed men arrange marriages where it was the women who sought out the best matches for their daughters.

...

Amelia Bones had been sworn in a neutral candidate for Minister, she was neither in Dumbledore's or Lucius Malfoy's pocket. She would play both groups against each other to her advantage and she had several defectors from the old coots camp to help her. Arthur Weasley and Amos Diggory were no longer enamoured with Dumbledore after the debacle at Hogwarts this year. He had held the wards to keep the students safe even after Malfoy badly thought out attempt to oust Albus as Headmaster and still five students had been hurt and one was missing, presumed dead. She had spoken to Madam Longbottom, who now held the chair of the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Changes would be made at that school, no longer would second rate teaching or teachers be acceptable.

Amelia had her first meeting with the department heads. She had moved Arthur Weasley out of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office and he mow headed the Goblin Liaison Office, a smart move considering his son was a highly thought of Curse Breaker. Crouch had been retired and his decisions and actions in the Ministry were being investigated on the quiet by Chief Auror Moody. The New Head of the Department of International Cooperation was Amos Diggory.

...

Arthur Weasley nodded respectfully at the head of the bank, Bank Manager Ragnarok was Head of the Goblin State, and Arthur was making waves as he suggested the Goblins reject the moves of Albus Dumbledore to take control of Harry's legacy.

The Goblin smiled cruelly as he was surprised by the wizard who was man enough to think for himself. "The Potter Steward is in control of the estate and he has removed the Lord Potter to have him educated privately. The fact the Heir of both the Potter, Evans and Black estates was placed in mortal peril at that school was his justifucation for removing him. As you daughter is betrothed to the Potter Heir, may I suggest you educate her at Beaubatons or Salem, as the Potter estate is paying for her schooling."

"I beg your pardon? Ginny is not betrothed to my knowledge. None of my children are." Arthur was too poor and inconsequential for such pure blood politics. He and Molly had eloped straight from school for her to break her own contract.

"Your great aunt and your wife signed the contract with Albus Dumbledore in 1982." The Goblin handed over the original document "The Steward of House Potter is reviewing the Terms and Conditions at the moment. A finalised Contract will be presented at the Engagement Ball." The Goblin knew as the ranking house the Contract would be in the Potters favour. "Do not worry the Bride Price has been dropped and you may give your daughter her bequest for her own use." Normally a chest of linens, clothes and jewellery were provided by the bride's family for their daughter. Arthur wondered if they would have to transfer his youngest sons to apprenticeships to be able to afford to give Ginny a chest worthy of her future status as Lady Potter-Black.

...

Sirius Black sat in his dog form and whined. The guards had taunted him that the Boy-who-Lived was dead. Killed at Hogwarts by a Basilisk. Sirius lay down and drew what little magic in the core to himself and meditated. The bond to his God son was still there. Harry was still alive. Sirius looked at the bed. He jumped from it and scrambled to the high window. He was skinny enough to squeeze through the bars as an emaciated dog. The guards had though he was on hunger strike. Now he was out of his cell. The main drain led to the sea. There he would either drown or make it to the mainland. Sirius would find answers to why he had been abandoned by the Order and find out why Harry had left Hogwarts and let the world think he was dead.


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius made it to the north coast of Northern Ireland in one piece. He then made his way south after crossing the Irish Sea to Stranraer. He stole from wizarding and muggle homes alike. He was well fed considering the slop he'd been fed in prison, and gaining in strength. He read the discarded issues of the Prophet he came across and in the home of an elderly old crone he stole a hawthorn wand.

He had enough information to plan out his next move. Sirius Black needed to track down Harry's best friend. He remembered having friends, he and James were in each others pockets from the age of 11, no secrets. He knew Ron would most likely be aware where Harry had run off too. If he didn't know he was one of the last people to see Harry before he disappeared. Sirius had been a fine Auror before his betrayal by the rat and everyone else he knew. Sirius was putting his detecting skills to use.

A large, skinny black dog passed through the wards protecting and masking the Burrow at Ottery St Catchpole. Ronald Weasley was sat alone underneath an apple tree next to the lane to the village. Well not quite alone, in his hands was a rat, a rat Sirius would never mistake for what it was.

Arthur came home early to discuss the matter of the matrimonial contract his wife had tied his youngest to. He walked up the lane to see two men arguing over the stunned form of his youngest son. Arthur was no Auror but the two wizards did not expect an attack. He stunned the two and revived Ron, after activating his emergency beacon. Aurors were on the scene in seconds.

The fall out from the recapture of Sirius Black and the discovery that Peter Pettigrew was alive led to a major scandal, one that blackened the name of Barty Crouch, who had thrown an innocent man into Azkaban without even questioning him. The arresting team found his son imperioused and imprisoned in the Crouch family home. The series of scandals rocked the magical world with the Bones adminstration rolling with the punches.

Sirius sat in hospital and made lists of all he knew about his Godson. It was not a lot. He needed to talk to Ronald Weasley, he needed to find out if Harry had contacted his relatives. Sirius shuddered thinking about the bitter harpy, Petunia Evans. He had met Lily's sister at their engagement party and again at Lily and James wedding. Lily's mother and father had been lovely, kind and encouraging. Petunia had been a bitch, pure and simple.

Peter had been tried already. Sirius testimony had seen justice done. Amelia Bones had offered the ex-convict his old job back. Sirius had other plans.

Arthur had spent the last two days working all hours as the arrest and trial of Peter Pettigrew had been rushed before the Wizengamot. He had not talked to his wife and great aunt about their actions. He was Head of his House, not that that meant much; but the fact they had gone behind his back over Ginny stung. He had to talk to Sirius Black, as Harry's godfather and rightful guardian, he could dissolve the contract by paying a minimum amount of compensation to House Weasley. Arthur guessed one galleon would do.

...

Harry and Tom rested briefly, both with their backs rested against a large pine tree. Tom pulled the younger into a hug. They were both apprehensive about meeting the shade that was Lord Voldemort. It had taken one very illegal portkey and three days searching through the dark and dense primeval forest south-east of Tirana to find the trail of death and dark magic left my Nagini and her master.

They continued to hack through the undergrowth. Both used cutting curses against the trees, vines and vegetation, banishing the detritus. Making a path was a much easier task with magic than with muggle machetes. Harry hung back for a moment and felt a disturbance to his left. This was not the first magical and non-magical predator to cross their path. Harry heard the sibilant tones of a snake. "This food tasstes familiar... no, not foood... Master's blood... Master's essence... Come let Nagini taste you fully, then she will take you to her nest."

Harry hissed, he automatically now talked the snake tongue to his brother, "Tom... Tom... I found Nagini."

Tom stroked the snake at the entrance to a small cave, a small pause to collect homself before entering. Inside was a small fox, currently the host to the Dark Lord. Harry hung back. Tom stood and allowed the black shade envelop him. The strange magic that had given the horcux a body meant the two soul pieces had to accept each other. Anger, hostility, dominance and finally acceptance were the emotions that played across the link to the youngest horcrux whom Nagini was now protecting. The bond between snake and the boy far stronger than that of just familiar.

When Tom emerged from the cave he strode with purpose straight to Harry Potter and grabbed the boy's face. Harry did not flinch as the familiar blue eyes had turned red. There were no barriers, Lord Voldemort stared into Harry's eyes and saw the folly of his actions a year ago as he noted the stone had been a trap set by Dumbledore. A trap both to lure him and to test the resolve and courage of his nemesis. No, his former nemesis, now his most precious, his horcrux. The Dark Lord loosened his grip on the boy's jaw and withdrew his mental probe. He stroked the young too thin face. He had seen many things in the boy's memories, very few of them good. He knew his resurrected 16 year old self had been a pillar of strength and comfort to young Harry. Voldemort also had to access the change in his magic after the horcux had been given life not by the sacrifice of a slave but the willing donantion of wild magic from a fellow mage. He agreed with his younger selfs actions and the fact answers were needed. Tom Riddle may first have read and experimented with soul magic at Hogwarts but in Britain they barely knew anything about the subject. The Great Persian Empire of Old was the centre of learning of this blackest of arts. If they could find answers to this phenomenon they would have to travel east.

Harry was aware of the hand stroking his face. His knees were about to give out after he had been overwhelmed by Tom's or was it Voldemort's magic. He was confused. Tom was his brother. Voldemort had killed his parents. Harry knew it was a war. His parents followed Dumbledore blindly. They had trusted their friends. Harry tried to believe his parents were good people but he knew next to nothing about them apart from that he looked like them.


	6. Chapter 6

A dirty and badly dressed skinny youth ran nimbly through the streets of Calcutta. His black hair was grimy and plastered to his head, his skin streaked with dirt. He wore ill fitting clothes, a tee-shirt, jeans and trainers as dirty as his face. Dark skin and black eyes made him indistinguishable from the other teenage boys living and working in the shadow of the Temple of Kali. The boy ran down and alley and he checked no one was watching before passing through a gate half hidden by overgrown vegetation. As if by magic the boy's skin lightened to a pale tan, his eyes became dark green, not a speck of dirt was visible and his clothes became black silk leggings and tunic. His fine leather sandals with silver adornments were left at the door. The boy bowed briefly at the house shrine as he climbed the stairs to the first floor room. The room was richly carpeted with a scattering of floor cushions and the louvered shutters on the window kept the room dark but let in the slight breeze from the river. The young man's eyes adjusted to the low light and he prostrated himself before the figure resting in the far corner drinking tea.

"Come child, let me see you. You look life you've grown at least four inches." The figure was a young man himself, about twenty, but dressed in a fine linen suit.

Harry got up and hugged his brother. "I missed you. So has Nagini. It has been lonely without you."

"Really, did not Madam Khan keep you occupied?" Tom smiled and poured a glass of tea for his brother.

"Of course." Harry then pulled out a pack of well worn cards from a pouch hidden beneath his tunic. He was a boy of strange rituals. At all meetings he read the cards. Harry studied numerology with a passion, a fact that bemused Tom no end.

Tom picked out three cards. Harry turned them over and laughed. The cards were for Tom, Nagini and himself. One, six and seven. "Auspicious and lucky. I take it your quest was successful."

"Yes. I have learned much. I will tell you over dinner but first tell me what you have learned. Mrs Kahn's letters told me much about the shocking price of rice and meat and nothing of what that old crone is teaching you."

...

Ron half listened as Ginny and Hermione chatted. The three of them were close, each missing the one that had completed their quartet. Harry had saved Ginny from the Heir of Slytherin, from You-Know-Who, two years ago. Ron knew his father believed Harry was alive, but as what? A possessed slave or prisoner. Sirius sent letters to Arthur of his travels but he still had no confirmed sightings of either You-know-who or Harry.

Ron tried to concentrate on his divination homework but he hated the subject. He hated most school work and Hogwarts in general. Only a year to his OWLS and then he was to be apprenticed to a specialist broom customization workshop based in Knockturn Alley. The business was owned by Sirius and run by three Quiddich mad ex-Hufflepuffs. Ron thought about the Nimbus 2000 he revered, Harry's old broom. Two weeks until the summer holidays and back to his holiday job at the workshop. Sirius had taken Ron there the previous summer after the World Cup. Ron knew Sirius liked him and the rest of the Weasley family. Ludicrously funny considering that sick pervert, Pettigrew had been his pet rat. Ron shuddered. Sirius being such a good friend to dad had made up for the fact his parents were no longer the perfect ideal of loving parents. Dad worked, was in his shed or was conspiring with that Black, as his mother called Sirius. Molly Weasley did not like the ex-convict, innocent or not. Last summer Ron had felt like a third wheel as Ginny, Hermione and Luna had been inseparable. The twins were a self sufficient unit of two, even though they tried to include Ron in their quest for being the world's top joke masters. Even Percy ignored everyone as he now worked as Dad's undersecretary and was away in London all hours.

He listened in as the two girls gossiped about boys. Hermione was dating Viktor Krum. Ginny was sort of seeing Neville. More friend than boyfriend. Ron really was not interested in girls, dating or anyone at school. He knew Hermione and Ginny only put up with him to stop him being a complete loner but how was he meant to get over what happened two years ago, two years ago today. The quill in his hand shattered and he practically stabbed through the parchment and imbedded the point into the table below.

The girls looked at Ron with a mixture of concern and pity. He wiped his ink splattered hand onto his robes and fished a new quill from his bag. His only passion now was chess and brooms. Shame there had been no Quidditch this year at school. He'd tried out for the house team last year but he was frankly pants, not a patch on Harry or more annoyingly, Ginny.

The twins then came over to the quiet corner of the common room and sat down heavily. The two boys had made enough money from running a betting circle at school regarding the Triwizard tournament and selling questionable joke items to start serious research and development for the joke shop they dreamed about. Ron heard them discuss Padfoot's ideas and proposals. Another twinge of regret spiked through Ronald Weasley. Last year on the anniversary of Harry's disappearance he'd had a bit of a fit in the common room as everyone carried on as normal. It was like only he missed small, quiet, brave Harry.

...

It had been two years, not even the Triwizard tournament or the Quidditch World Cup had not drawn out Tom and more importantly, Harry. Albus had not even heard anything from Igor Karkaroff. Two years with no stirrings from the resurrected Dark Lord or his followers.

Albus then mused on the victory of Hufflepuff as house cup champions. Even the triumph of Cedric Diggory in the Triwizard tournament was a sour note. The fine eighteen year old had won by a large margin from Viktor Krum. The young Hufflepuff was the apple of Amos' eye, but the boy like his father looked at Albus like he was dirt on his shoe.


	7. Chapter 7

The table was low and covered in a variety of small dishes. Small mounds were placed to accompany the staple of rice in front of the two diners. Madam Kahn had retired to her rooms to leave her two guests to talk. Tom knew Harry was nearly finished studying for his healer mastery, he was a true prodigy in that field. Madam Kahn had taught him well. Harry also had kept up his studies in several other areas that interested him. Tom ate the vegetarian feast cooked by Madam Kahn's house elves. The two brothers caught up on all that had happened in the four months Tom had been in Egypt consulting with Sorcerers, Shaman and Curse breakers specializing in the obscure field of Soul Magic. A plate of sweetmeats accompanied the small cups of strong and sweet arabic coffee as their discussion turned to darker themes.

"So we are no longer two entities but one." Harry mused on the facts that his soul and the horcrux were entwined and could not be separated due to the fact he or the container of a horcrux, had supplied the magic to restore another soul fragment to life. Harry had taken Tom's explanation to mean that they were bonded souls no longer just a container. Soul based resurrection had never been fully understood or researched. Tom's very existence was an unknown element as one soul fragment had taken flesh and merged with the base or original, who had been reduced to a wraith. The circumstances of Tom's vanquishing had in fact supplied a whole new field of study in the area, not that he would let any of the other specialists study, meet or talk to his precious Harry. He had made sure he had covered his trail very well before returning to Calcutta, so even the most talented tracker could not have followed him here.

Harry pulled out his tarot cards and handed them to Tom. The younger boy looked with puppy dog eyes pleading in a soft voice, "Read for me?"

Tom shuffled the cards with the quick proficiency of a croupier. The cards were chosen by Harry and placed on the table face down and uncovered by Tom. The first three, The sun, the magician and the chariot. Four more cards were uncovered the hanged man, the lovers, death and justice. Tom did not interpret the cards but he could see Harry concentrate and then smile. "So, are you planning on returning to England?"

"How have you interpreted the cards as that?" The same seven cards had always been drawn when Tom read for Harry. It showed them as family, strength and protection, change and stability, cause and effect. Duality and one. Not that Tom was an expert, divination was not his field of expertise. He just viewed the cards and had no visions or intuition to their true relevance or any future possibilities.

"You have gained answers from your time in Egypt. You have unfinished business in Britain. Return and evaluate your options. I can stay here, safe and protected by the well of souls deep within Kali's temple." The fact that the deep dark magic of the temple masked all magical signatures, practices and persons from outside scrying or even blood based searches. The reason Tom had found a home here.

Tom looked at the cards and mused on Harry's interpretation. "You and Nagini will come with me. I need you both close as I have to deal with those who denied me or profited from my demise. The faithful are few and those imprisoned too damaged to be much help."

The younger boy smiled, "Dementor's were originally necromancers who delved too deeply in their art, cursed to be destroyers of life and happiness by their thirst for control over death. They were meant to rid the world of the guilty and the cruel. They have overfed to the point they affect even the innocent, the pure and the righteous. There are rituals to reverse and lessen their evil."

"This is what Madam Kahn has been teaching you?"

"This and the true affects of all evil and dark magics. I have made some discoveries myself. I have even written some medical papers on the subject using a synonym." Harry grinned looking like he boy he still was and then popped a coconut morsel into his mouth.

Tom leaned forward to have a full view of his companion's face in the flickering lamp light. "So my faithful could be returned to sanity and strength?"

With a stoic poker face Harry tilted his head and affirmed "Yes."

Tom laughed at Harry's certainty. What a team they would make. Dark and light, destruction and healing joined as one. "You continually surprise and amaze me. Come let us retire. I have missed you and Nagini in my bed and have grown to hate sleeping alone."

Harry knew Tom had left Nagini with him as the final layer of defense in case Harry had been uncovered here. The snake was vicious and deadly when provoked and the large viper's bite promised a most painful and long death.

...

Sirius walked through the streets of Cairo's Old town, founded on the ancient city of Memphis, wary of the fact magical and muggle seemed to have no divide in this alien city. Bill Weasley had spoken of a young scholar researching arcane aspects of soul magic, whom his boss had spoken to briefly. The goblins prided themselves on security and the confidentiality of their clients. Bill had only overheard part of a hushed conversation in gobbledegook about a mage and his researches. Sirius travelled to the souk to talk with an ancient shaman, one who divined with snakes. Sirius had grown up in a house carved richly in images of snakes and dragons. His mother had spoken with pride of her great-great-great uncle, who spoke parseltongue. The man had not been a dark lord but a world renowned master healer. He was grateful in some ways that the lies of Albus Dumbledore had been uncovered. His eyes had been opened. Life was not black and white. His parents were not truly evil, just bad parents to him and his brother.

Sirius was shown into a small shabby room by a small boy who had taken ten galleons for the granting of a meeting with the wizened, old man seated within. The shaman smiled at the tall dark stranger as he entered the small room he used for audiences. "I know of your quest. Your godson is happy and well. You will meet again and it will be in London. Go home. He will find you. Search no more." The man then returned to his meditation, a firm dismissal for the englishman before he had asked a single question.


	8. Chapter 8

Paris was almost London. Too close for comfort, anyway. To the young man with the messy dark hair, it was an alien place, even if he could speak the language. He had felt at home in Calcutta. Here he was subject to stupid laws on underage magic. Harry stood within the hallowed halls of the Société Magique Médicinale, outside a conference room on the third floor. He was here for his final viva voce for his mastery. He was only fifteen but if he passed he would gain full emancipation and wand rights. He would be no one's pawn ever again. He had no need to be nervous, Madam Kahn had written his letters of introduction. He had worked for over a year on his specialism. Appenticeships were offered from the age of 12, although most in England took Masteries after completing their NEWTS. Harry had finished his in just over two years to be the youngest to achieve this level ever. He had travelled alone for his examination, he had grown used to his independence especially when it came to his studies. It was only occasionally his work peeked Tom's interest. Harry sighed, he hated waiting. Then the door opened. It was now or never.

Poppy Pomfrey sat and perused her copy of Healing and Potions Monthly. While sipping her breakfast tea she read the article on a newly honoured Master of Healing stood in his master's robes with his diploma. H.J. Potter, 15, the youngest Master in any subject recorded. The article spoke of him studying in Calcutta under the infamous Madam Kahn, a woman who was famed at curing dark curses but who few could gain an audience with. The journalist stated the young Lord Potter had left Hogwarts after his parseltongue ability had led to him being bullied, ostracised and blamed for the attacks of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. The article then listed that most of the worlds leading healers were parselmouths, a fact passed down from the founder of the Healing Arts, Asclepius, the first recorded healer-mage, not as the muggles thought a god. The author, a frenchman then derided the British and their fear of those with this ancient gift, always a sign of a mage, not simply 'dark wizards'. She passed the article to her friend and head of Gryffindor House.

Minerva wiped a tear from her eye while taking in the details of the photo of a serious but healthy young man. No longer was Harry small, far too thin and dressed like a beggar. His leaving Hogwarts had been the making of him. In that photograph stood the son of Lily Evans, studious, bright and driven, even if he looked like his father his posture and demeanor reflected his mother.

It was at that point Severus Snape swept up to the head table and sat and glowered at his fellow teachers. The dark brooding man practically snatched his copy of the journal from the school owl waiting for him and then ignored all and sundry.

Minerva and Poppy shared a look. This was the man who declared Harry to be an imbecile and a spoiled brat. The series of news articles in the Prophet had proved the Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter had grown up a practical slave, living in a boot cupboard and totally ignorant of his heritage. No wonder the boy had just left.

If it was possible the tall hooked nosed man became paler before hurriedly leaving the hall and striding through the school to inform Albus Dumbledore that the Prophecy Child had surfaced.

Tom and Harry lay asleep in a small attic garrett, high above Knockturn Alley. Harry had purchased a second wand in the alley the previous day. The holly wand with ashwinder blood core was technically illegal in Britain, not that either wizard cared. Harry did not want any friend or toady of Dumbledore to track the magical signature stored at the Ministry of Magic. Harry had used his old holly wand several times in Paris, just to give his trackers something to follow. Harry had studied the muggle Houdini and misdirection was the key to being a true magician, not that he told Tom of his fascination of slight of hand and parlour tricks. The study of muggle pastimes as well as numerology was considered a waste of time by the young Dark Lord.

Harry woke early and wiggled out of bed leaving Tom and Nagini still asleep. From the small window he could see east to the City and the tall towers of steel and glass. The muggle world was changing and evolving at a frightening pace. Nano technology, genetics and communications were changing the world. Within a generation no muggle-born or raised child would fit into the conservative and frankly backward magical world. Harry had plans to educate his brother on this new and potentially lethal threat to their hidden world. He wondered at why none of the muggleborn had spotted these problems. Most seemed to fully accept the superiority of the magical world. It was then that Harry had a eureka moment. The binding magical contract between muggles, the magical child, Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic may include a strong compulsion. Had Tom been driven to eradicate all muggle ideas from their world by a misplaced charm. Harry knew he could not scan his brother without receiving a good hexing. The idea of the Statute of Secrecy was possibly the one thing that had lead to three hundred years of Dark Lords rising, most to destroy the folly of a system of bewitching your citizens and erasing the memories of any not in on the secret.

Harry wrote down the basis of this hypothesis and had another idea. Had Tom changed because his resurrected body had not been subjected to the compulsions of the school contract? Had he himself been immune from this form of personality modification by the horcrux? Harry sat and mused on these thoughts and did not realise Tom was reading over his shoulder.

"You are such a clever boy. I discoverd the compulsion at the age of twenty-three. It is the reason Durmanstang does not accept mudbloods. How can a pupil attain their full potential when under a strong compulsion. It is brainwashing, pure and simple."

"So you wish to reshape our society to make all free?" Harry said not believing Tom would be that altruistic.

"No, thats too simple, We must educate the magical children to their full potential. I think the American system for muggleborns is the best, all chidren learn to adapt to both worlds with the select few purebloods sticking to magic only enclaves. I rejected my muggle heritage so completely and missed the world changing. I find it difficult to equate the London of my youth to the city now."

Harry chewed on his lower lip, he was surprised by Tom well thought out rhetoric. "How can you possibly get your followers to agree?"

"The present system does not work. Mudbloods are not accepted. It would be better to educate those brought up in the mundane world, as the Americans call it, from the age of six or seven in magical history, culture and theory. It would let those children to integrate better under the restrictions of the International Statute of Secrecy." Tom then ruffled his younger brothers messy hair. "Dress in your finest robes, we are to visit Lucius Malfoy. I wonder how that snake will react to our visit. I wish to see him squirm for his inaction and betrayal."


	9. Chapter 9

The name Malfoy Manor did not do justice to the ancient home of the lesser branch of the Comte de Malfoy's family. The lesser branch in terms of genealogy only. By 1670, thecousins of the 15th Comte had settled in Wiltshire, in an enclave 20km from Devises but hidden from muggles. The founder of this branch was Julius de Malfoy, who had eloped with Carolinda Black in 1560, beginning the strong ties between the two families. Julius had invested in trade with the New World, making himself immensely rich by being a merchant, a trader, all too dirty for his relations. They had called him a mudblood fool. His son inherited wealth, land and worked on his position in society distancing himself from his muggle-loving father. The house, constructed in 1675, rivaled those at Vicomte de Vaux and Versailles. The home of the Malfoy's was a pleasure palace with an park, formal gardens, house, stables and riding school.

Tom smiled as he touched the outer layer of the wards. His blood was accepted as friend and ally of the family. Lucius had not made as many mistakes as Tom thought. He still accepted Tom or had he really thought him dead and just neglected to remove the threat to his family. Had Lucius discarding his Lord's precious horcrux out of fear or was it just complacency of a man driving forward his own schemes by planting an object of the most forbidden magic on the youngest Weasley child. Tom had expected to have to break the protections but he would be able to enter unopposed. The dark haired handsome man beckoned his teenage companion forward. They walked up a wide avenue lined with yew tree topiary with formal gardens on either side. In front of them was a Palladian Palace with wings. The honey coloured sandstone looking resplendent in the late autumn sunshine.

Narcissa was dressing for a formal lunch with the Ladies on the Board of the Friends of St. Mungo's Hospital. Her personal house elf was quaking with fear trying and failing to speak. They had visitors and she had no idea who would disturb her without leaving a card or flooing before hand. The elegant and petite figure of Narcissa Malfoy Black, dressed in finest robes fashioned in Paris, made her way to the reception room to the right of the Grand entrance.

"How may I help you?" she asked of her guests, thinking they were the French cousin's from their fine dress.

With a condescending tone, Tom spoke, "Surely I do not have to introduce myself, Madam. I visited these halls many times before my untimely sabbatical and surely you recognise your Lord and your cousin?"

The tall dark haired young man had the coldest voice Narcissa could remember hearing, spoken with a slight hiss. The woman looked at the youth and then lowered herself to the floor, she prostrated herself on the cold marble. "My Lord, forgive me. You look so young, so handsome."

"I wish to speak to Lucius, summon him, now!"

The chamber of the Wizengamot was debating a trade agreement with Japan. Each clause caused a new set of arguments and counter arguments. Lucius sat and debated wether to adjurn to take a fine lunch on Diagon Alley at the his favourite restaurant, Le Chat Noir. The miserable and useless elf then appeared. Dooby was pulling his ears before he squeaked "Mistress needs you at home.. there are guests.. special important guests. You must come right away, master. Mistress needs you."

The elf spoke of need. Narcissa was always so polite in her requests, well bred ladies did not have anything as crude as needs, they took fancies or humbly made requests. Need meant she was in peril.

...

Lucius flooed directly into his office and used the secret passage from there to the reception room. He saw from the spy hole Narcissa was sipping tea with a dark haired teenager with green eyes. The young man looked vaguely familiar. The blond haied deatheater drew his wand intent on cursing the impudent young wizard for daring to disturb his carefully ordered day. The oak panel silently swung aside and the master of the house stepped into the room when a bright beam of red hit him. Lucius felt to the floor, his nerve endings on fire. His screams were loud and pitiful. With blank faces, Narcissa and her cousin Harry looked on as the Dark Lord Voldemort had his revenge of his main lieutenant.

Lucius lay on the floor gasping in air as the impossibly young mage berated him. "You have disappointed me on so many levels. I am a just and merciful wizard. I trusted you to look out for my interests, for you to protect my precious gifts to you. You who gave my diary to a child."

The blond man gulped and tried not to vomit before rolling onto his stomach to make his excuses. "My Lord, you have been resurrected. It is a miracle."

"You misguided fool. I am immortal. I suffered eleven years in exile. I have spent the last two years trying to make up for your monumental mistake. You, of any of my followers know of the darkest of dark arts, of soul anchors. My dairy was meant to be kept hidden, kept safe, not to be used for your petty games of revenge against the weak, politically inept and poor house of Weasley." Voldemort strode forward. "You knew I was still alive, all my followers could still feel the magical pull of your mark. None of you came to give me aid. I survived alone. Dumbledore used his mentor Flamel to try and ensnare me three years ago. I still made plans. My focus remained on my goals while you and your fellows bribed and lied to remain free, comfortable and prosperous. I think my trust in you was misplaced. Do not think I have finished with my punishment. All my followers with know of your failures. Tonight we will free the faithful. We will storm Azkaban. So, do you remain true to me, your Lord?"

"Forgive my failures, my first priority was my family, my wife and son. Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rastaban, the Carrows and Rockwood have no family to protect. They could afford the risk of continuing your great work."

Another red beam hit Lucius. The man screamed and wailed himself hoarse before the Dark Lord stowed his wand and sneered, "Do not make excuses to me. Serve me well and faithfully and you can regain the rank you once held."

Harry had sat and watched. As Lucius left to freshen up. Narcissa summoned a light lunch as if no unpleasantness had happened. Harry accepted the new cup of tea and watched Narcissa, looking carefully at her aura. The young wizard ignored Narcissa'a shiver as he hissed to his Tom, "You displeasure does not extend to my cousin, does it?"

Tom sat and accepted the dainty sandwiches and a glass of firewhiskey. "I have no quarrel with the lady of the house."

Harry then turned to Narcissa, "My Lady, dearest cousin... forgive my frankness but I speak as a healer. Did you know you bear a dark curse?... Have you had trouble conceiving, had miscarriages.. found intercourse painful?"

The woman opposite blushed and looked at her hands as if they were most interesting and whispered "Yes" and nodded while beginning to cry as her dark secret was aired in front of the Dark Lord.

The curse was old and very dark. One normally cast by jilted lovers or enemies trying to end a noble line. Harry knew the counter, a healing spell that could only be cast in the language of the snakes, "You should feel some tingling. Your menstruation for the next three or four cycles will be heavy and painful but the curse will be dispelled. You shall suffer no longer."

"Please, please release me from this abominable nightmare. I have suffered greatly for fifteen years. I was eight months pregnant with Draco when I was cursed. He was born premature. As a child I dreamed of four healthy strong sons. Please help me, if you can."


	10. Chapter 10

The wind whipped and howled around the three figures who stood on the deck of the small fishing boat which approached the forbidding pinnacle of granite topped with the bleak fortress prison. The Keep had a single narrow slipway, the fishing boat was the weekly scheduled service from the mainland bringing supplies and normally a change of crew. On the mainland, three aurors had arrived for their week on duty to find the boat had already departed without them. Azkaban was so feared and so isolated a single auror patrolled for each eight hour shift for seven days on, seven days off. There was a permanent staff of the warden, deputy warden and on site healer, they worked six months. No one volunteered for this job. The captain smoked and did not talk to his passengers, he never did. He liked the fact they had arrived early today, sooner there the sooner home to his wife and bed. The squib had done this job for forty years and also ferried over the prisoners, few that they were. Most crimes were viewed as misdemeanors, only the evil, unlucky and persistent offenders ended up here. The unlucky included Sirius Black, innocent and untried, sent here to rot for eleven years. Since his exoneration all felons had had their cases reviewed. Seven were now in St. Mungo's and the dementors were restricted to the lower levels.

The three aurors stared at the slipway. The smallest threw a rope to the waiting three aurors, who were helped aboard and into the small cabin followed by the exchange crew. Each put a small pipe to their lips and the curare tipped darts sent the aurors into oblivion. No wizard would recognise the affects of the South American poison.

The three went into the fortress and the warden and deputy warden were also drugged. Without a single curse or any damage to the wards, ten prisoners were carried to freedom. The boat was found moored at a port in Co. Donegal with four paralysed occupants.

Lucius seethed as his house became a make shift infirmary for the escaped convicts. The plan they had executed to retrieve the imprisoned faithful had been undertaken without a single curse or hex fired. The man now stared as the young master healer sat and took breakfast in his dining room. A half-blood and blood traitor to boot had provided the majic to revive the Dark Lord. Harry Potter now stood in his place as their Lord's chosen confidant and most trusted. It had been the Potter child who had planned the attack on Azkaban using a method completely uncharateristic of Deatheater attacks. Lucius picked at his food and then noted the Dark Lord and Potter retired to the same room. This revelation made Lucius reassess all he knew of his Lord, he had a fifteen year old lover and had possibly been fucking the boy since his revival. Lucius wrote immediately to his son and his comrade in arms Severus Snape. Draco was a far more perfect companion for the Dark Lord with his perfect looks, pureblood and impeccable place in society. His son was not safe here. No he would not risk his son to become a catamite. The fact made Lucius ill.

"How are your patients?" asked Tom as he sat down next to the fire in the guest room they had been assigned. Nagini was already asleep on the bed.

Harry stood by the window looking out on the early mist covering the formal gardens, only small dark shapes of the larger trees were visible. The young man then turned to give Tom his full attention. He bowed his head and spoke "As well as can be expected. The holistic and potions regime will slowly increase their strength, in fourteen days they can be revived to serve you fully, my Lord."

"Harry, here in private I have no need of titles or formality. You are my precious, my soul, my life, part of my whole." Tom stood and swept the green eyed boy into a hug and the older man smiled. "I thought this morning you would intercede on Lucius' behalf."

"That arrogant man needs to be taken down a peg or too. He did not even occlude me properly at breakfast. He fears you will fuck his braggart of a son."

Tom pulled away and his fingers gently touched Harry's chin, tilting the boys head back so Tom could took in those dark green eyes. "I have no interest in Draco. He is a shadow of his father and a pathetic bully."

Tom leaned forward and kissed Harry's forehead. "Let us have a bath. It has been a long night."

Harry hugged his brother harder. It had been stressful just being back in Britain. The idyll of the past two years had abruptly ended. Now was the careful negotiation with his followers, not mindless fools but strong independent wizards who shared Tom's goal of a safe strong future for wizard kind. Lucius was a slippery bastard. He had used Tom's exile to make himself the preeminent dark wizard in Britain. Now he was no longer No. 1 and not even in the top ten. Narcissa, his wife, had higher prospects in the Dark Lord's eyes and he wanted to keep his son away. Harry knew the Draco he knew would no settle for being side lined or protected. In fourteen days, all death eaters would be called to account for their actions and inaction. Many would face punishments and be demoted. It may cause strife and insurrection. Harry knew Nagini would not leave his side from now on and where possible he would be with Tom. Many would question that he was not marked. None would be privy to the secret they were brothers, as close as twins. Then Harry almost laughed out loud thinking of Gred and Forge, and their annoying habit of finishing each others sentences.

Tom noted Harry's mood lifting and quirked an eyebrow at his beloved brother.

"Sorry just thinking of the Weasley twin's and their odd habits." Harry explained.

"I am very selfish and very possessive. I want you all to myself. I forget you have friends, my little Gryffindor." Tom began to pull Harry towards the luxurious on-suite bathroom and the already drawn tub brimming over with bubbles.

Harry pouted before saying, "They are not important to me. I need only you and Nagini and I am content."

"And if I lock you in a high tower for my amusement only?" Tom hissed as he undressed Harry.

"Whatever my Lord requires" and Harry knelt down, head bowed, a perfect servant.

In one swift move Tom picked up the teenager and dumped him in the tub. He then stripped off his clothes quickly and joined him with every intension of tickling just to hear his delightful laughter and protests. They spent too little time, just together, just having fun.


	11. Chapter 11

Severus pondered the letter in his hands, letting the gruesome details add to the shocking breaking news this morning of a mass breakout at Azkaban. Lucius had been most blunt in his description of Harry as completely in the thrall of the Dark Lord. Snape sat down heavily, not caring it was early in the day, he drank a large glass of brandy, flicking his wand to set reading for his lessons. He had failed his beloved Lily. He had failed to protect her son. He wept bitter angry tears. Hatred burned in his heart not for Harry but for Albus and mostly himself for his failure to stop the impulsive boy from running dead long into danger to save the youngest Weasley. Albus had set the boy up to act as hero and destroyed any hope for the future. The school year 1992-1993 had lead Harry to become isolate, alone and disheartened. In a pile of periodicals beside his worn out chair in his office, Snape had a scrap book containing all of the Prophet's articles detailing the alienation of Potter in School, the failure of each member of staff and the bigoted bullying of most of the students. Then came the revelations of Rita Skeeter of Petunia and her husband's treatment of he orphan wizard. The squib, Arabella Figg had doled the dirt n Lily's sister. Last he heard the Dursley's had emigrated to Australia to escape the hate mail and death threats.

Severus knew the Prophecy child was Potter. Albus may have started to show the Longbottom child an unhealthy amount of attention, but that boy had not been marked by the Dark Lord in any sense. The Potions master then went to his desk and began the arduous task of placating his master. He had not been contacted about the raid on Azkaban. Severus did not worry over the possibility he was seen as a traitor. He was still doing the task his Master set him in 1981. However, Lucius had contacted him behind the Dark Lord's back. Severus could now use this fact against his old house mate. In a small petty way getting back at the arrogant snob for making his life hell on earth during his first three years at school, but more importantly he had to remain a true and loyal servant first. Forget Lucius' paranoia of protecting Draco at all costs. Severus had never had much contact with other death eaters, his task had been to spy on Albus. Now he had no promises to hold him to the Headmaster. Severus would return to his original master and try to help Harry. Most likely the boy was already a fully marked, loyal and bound for eternity to a monster.

In his rooms, the Dark Lord received the letter from Severus Snape, enclosing a copy of the letter Lucius had sent him. Tom was trying to fathom Lucius' complete lack of subtlety, it was most unlike the man. He could not ask the man directly as he was up to his neck in political intrigue at the Ministry. Lucius' old friend, Fudge, was now deputy head of the Auror Office and he and his boss Rufus Scrimgeour were both apoplectic over the backlash against the Auror's inactivity. With no clues and no idea who the breakout was staged how could the Magical Law Enforcement do anything.

Tom went to converse with the newly revived and sane, Lestrange brothers. He needed to ask of the Carrows, the Crouch Boy and Karakaroff. First he would check Harry was still resting, the boy had outdone himself, too young to expend so much energy on healing. Now, it was the healer who was on bedrest.

Narcissa read for Harry on the morning of big meeting. Bellatrix watched amused, the dark haired woman indulged Harry stating Narcissa had more of a gift for divination than she did. Bellatrix twirled her dark hair with her index finger anxious for her sister to read for her as well. Harry did not question the fact he and Nagini were breakfasting with the ladies, the young mage guessed there was a power play was in motion between the Lestrange brothers and Lucius Malfoy. Not that Lucius seemed to be the usual sourpuss in the last week. That fact may have to do with the fact Narcissa was making up for lost time and had visited his suite of rooms every night. Harry had blushed like a beetroot when he had overhead the two sisters talk in low whispers of orgasms and other things ladies gossiped about.

The final card turned over revealed the Hermit. Narcissa hand caressed it. She furrowed her brow. "This card signifies your godfather coming into your life. Sirius was always a hot headed fool. He was practically adopted by Dorea, your grandmother Harry. I fear dear sister, we should extend the hand of reconciliation with our dear cousin. He has been betrayed and hurt most grievously by his former friends and associates." Narcissa then looked up and explained about Dorea Potter, nee Black. "Your grandmother was a fine Slytherin, she the makings of being a fine matriarch. Rumour has it she was also cursed with Hera's Revenge, like myself. The Potter's visited India in 1958, dare I say Madam Khan healed her and two years later at the age of 49 she gave birth to James." Narcissa looked at Harry, he had the look of his grandmother in his nose, cheekbones and chin. The boy favoured his Black blood.

Harry loved when the youngest of the Black sisters talked at length on family history, rumour, scandal and love. It made up for the lies he'd been told of the Potter's always being Gryffindors. Charlus had been the first Gryffindor in one hundred years. He had grown up with Dorea, falling for his cousin at the age of eleven, when she was a mere seven. Contracts were not just a matter of pureblood politics. Most matched pairs were magically compatible, it meant marriages created strong partnerships, most eventually leading to deep mutual respect. The idea of Romantic Love was considered in most Magical Literature along the lines of Platonic, forbidden passion undertaken in secret correspondence, hidden messages and go betweens. True love was the basis of the strongest magic based on selfless sacrifice and devotion. Sex, lust and promiscuity were alien, leading to most of the misunderstanding with muggle born and raised. Virginity was important. It was a popular belief that the strongest witches and wizards remained pure until their death beds. Most of the teachers at Hogwarts were unmarried and therefore untouched.

Harry had spoken of this with Tom, not understanding the elder Malfoy's misconception that the two brothers were lovers. Harry would marry if and when Tom chose him a spouse. It was a difficult subject to broach as Tom was the most magically compatible person for Harry. Harry pushed such thoughts to the back of his mind. He never wanted to be parted from Tom, ever, not even to take a wife. In one aspect Harry agreed with the idea of surrogates or adoption to gain an heir without the need for bedding a woman.


	12. Chapter 12

The Malfoy Mansion was filled with various rooms, just for social occasions. The drawing and dining rooms ranged in size from personal, family to ministry sized events. The ballroom was currently undecorated with only one chair on a dais. The raised space was big enough for the chosen inner circle, which now comprised those that had suffered in Azkaban. Harry had recommended that each seek a mind healer. Even if they had been cured of the physical and psychological affects, the dementor exposure would still leave scars that needed to be dealt with. With everyone busy with preparations and discussions, there were three figures in the family library on the second floor in the East Wing.

Bellatrix knew she had changed, she used to hate waiting for anything. Now she sat and watched the Dark Lord's young charge as he read and stroked the large snake curled up with him on the small recliner. She had taken a liking to the boy, her cousin's godson and her first cousin. Harry in turn trusted her with his private papers and had shown her his mother's journals. The Evan's girl had been a genius it seemed. Her ideas were like breaths of fresh air. Work on charms and spell craftimg, experiments with potions, essays on politics and the divisions between the magical and non-magical worlds. Lily Evans had even stated in her diary in some ways being obliviated would have been kinder than having to suffer the years of torment and bullying from her sister and her boyfriend and future husband. Harry had then stated in a small voice "She would never have sent me to live with them. Dumbledore betrayed my mother. I cannot forgive him for my suffering." Bella decided if she had met Lily Evans today, she would have persuaded her to join the cause, not just cursed her for the accident of her birth. The fool Potter had married a girl to made up for all his inadequacies, a perfect match. A fool with a strong future matriarch and grandame Bella was of a mind to take up matchmaking. She would leave politics to her husband. She had already decided to retire to produce an heir or maybe even two for the Lestrange family. First Sirius and Rastaban needed wives and she would cast a wide net for magically compatible girls, not just those with the right politics or blood lines.

...

Lucius knelt and offered the Dark Lord his left forearm. The man pressed a long thin finger against the skull and snake emblem and magic coursed through Lucius' body. It had been many years but the strength, power and sheer force of this wandless magic made him light headed. He gasped as the signal was sent through him and then he felt the returning call from each of the chosen. It was a rush of belonging, a brief touch of a former army. How many would come?

Tom watched the hall fill. Of the seven hundred marked in 1981, a tenth of that number showed themselves. He was about to speak when he saw an impossibility enter the hall.

All eyes were fixed on the thin, ravaged face of Barty Crouch Junior, who collapsed at the sight of his beloved master.

The Dark Lord barked, "Bella! Rastaban! Take Barty to our resident Master Healer."

The meeting started and most were shocked at the appearance of the Dark Lord. Gone was the snake like visage, now stood a tall, dark haired and handsome young man. The only familiar point was the gleeming red eyes. After Barty Crouch had been stretched out,Walden McNair threw himself at the floor, he wept and wailed for believing the lies that had convinced the wizarding world of the Dark Lord's death. The Dark Lord had thrown his head back and laughed at this statement. "My loyal and not so loyal follower's, how many of you toasted the demise of the Boy who lived. My nemesis is no more, for Harry Potter is a loyal wizard, he has not left my side since his magic gave me life once more. He is mine and mine alone. He has proved his worth. It was he who healed my inner circle, those who have suffered twelve years in Azkaban. Now I charge each of you to bring those who have nor come here tonight to account. I will move against the Ministry and a new Golden Age of Strength and Prosperity will begin. No longer shall any wizard live in fear or be abused or neglected. Magic must be protected and nurtured. Our history and traditions must be kept and understood. Our magical allies must be protected and strengthened. We can stand alone and profit rather than integrate with muggles and stagnate."

The chosen spread amongst the throng and evaluating all. Punishments were left to the Dark Lord's lieutenants. Those with families were given a dressing down. The young and single in 1981 were punished with a vide variety of curses. Tom watched from the dias, Severus Snape by his side.

"Do you wish me to assist your Master Healer, my Lord." the Hogwarts Professor suggested.

"A very generous offer, Potion Master Snape, but I fear my Master Healer has no reason to trust you. I ordered you to spy on Dumbledore and that is to remain your primary goal. My dearest Harry studied under Madam Lucretia Kahn, his potions surpass mine in quality and you failed his efforts for two years at Hogwarts. Young Master Potter is a mage. He is stubborn, driven and very, very smart. So like his mother and grandmother. You who only saw his father in him." Tom left it at that. He knew that Harry had a hardness in him, once scorned he would never forgive or forget. Tom knew they were both so alike. The boy, so lonely and derided at school had left at the first chance of family and escape from the abuse he'd grown up with. With nurture, support and guidance the boy had shown his true colours and left his damaged, guarded and underplayed masks behind.

Snape had felt like a seventeen year old again at his first meeting, being wooed to the cause. To a dark lord who had vision and drive to change society. The man who he had taken as his master, leader, lord, one who he had sworn fealty and full loyalty to. This was not the same vengeful, mercurial psychopath. Today he had seen that brilliance again.

Here the faithful would guide, drive and blackmail the marked to be loyal.

"So Master Snape, tell me about Dumbledore. How has he faired since his pawn left?"

...

Harry was staring into a fire in his room, when Bella knocked at the door. The young mage then smiled as he had known who was at the door before the witch in questioned had knocked.

He opened and asked "What can I do for you Madame Lestrange?"

Bella took in the sight of the teenager in loose silk pajamas. "Your skills are needed Master Healer."

Barty woke to feeling better than he had in years. His head was clear, he felt hungry, warm and rested. He actually felt, no longer in the fog of pain, always at his father's command. His father would never curse anyone again. The elder Crouch had lost his position at the ministry after Sirius Black had been found innocent, but that meant the man had been home seven days a week, all day to torment his failure of a son. Barty shuddered at the assault of memories only to be broken from his train of thought by a young man who stood by his bedside. A man, no still a boy, in Master Healer's robes, who held his hand over Barty. No wand in sight.

A goblet of water was conjured with ease and Barty sipped the cool liquid not taking his eyes off this stranger. "Do you know occulmency, Mr. Crouch?"

Barty nodded, not daring to speak after years spent in silence.

"Go to your safe place. Emerse yourself in your mindscape. You must organise you thoughts. Your hurts must be locked until you are stronger. You need complete bed rest."

A harsh rasp croaked "I must serve my Lord. I need to tell him I never lost faith."

"Shhhh, Our Lord already knows of your complete devotion. He wishes for you to be strong and well. To be a guiding light to the all in Britain and future generations. Your imprisonment and torture are over. Rest, pure heart, Rest."

Barty drifted into darkness and dreamt of happier times, of his mother smiling at him and stroking his hair.


	13. Chapter 13

The Dark Lord sat as read the Prophet after eating another fine breakfast supplied by the Malfoy house-elves, and enquired of his companion, who had been silent since he had woken, "How is Barty?"

The young healer put down his knife and fork and pushed his plate of half eaten food away. He sat back and took a deep cleansing breath. "He has no recollection of the past two years in St. Mungo's. I did a full cleanse of his blood and his aura. If I did not know better I would say those transfered from Azkaban into St. Mungo's secure ward are dosed regularly with dreamless sleep with no concern of the long term affects. Its controlled euthanasia. Barty woke due to your call and was able to apparate here from the alley behind St. Mungo's, he must have pushed himself down the laundry shoot to escape." Harry put his head in his hands and sighed. "His father's actions were inexcusable, horrific and barbaric. Poor Barty."

Tom smiled and turned the page, making the front page headlines on the escape or kidnapping of Barty Crouch visible to Harry, "He's was convicted of torturing an auror and his wife with the cruciatus curse."

"Said auror used a very dark curse on an innocent bystander. I cannot equate the fact the Neville's grandmother wants him to be just like that man."

"Harry, you must understand the Ministry had given the Aurors free reign to arrest and protect using any means necessary, even unforgivables."

"And to nearly kill a woman in her last month of pregnancy. A woman who has no history of any wrongdoing even if her husband is Lucius Malfoy" the teenager replied hotly.

"It was war." said the Dark Lord with resigned finality, putting his paper down.

Harry stood abruptly and stared at Tom, before walking around the table to reach forward and hug his brother. "I'm not getting at you about my parents. They chose Dumbledore. For some stupid reason! I'm just on edge because Sirius is coming for dinner. I have so many questions about my parents, the war, why fight your own family. Nothing makes sense. He just handed me to Hagrid. Why?"

Tom's hand "Why indeed? He was a young hot headed fool and did not know what to do with a baby."

"Or just thought about revenge. Damn the consequences." Harry the broke apart after hearing a faint peck at the window. "Hedwig's returned! Its a good sign." His owl had mated in the spring. Her brood must have fledged for her to return. Harry stroked his best friend. "Motherhood suits you, lovely girl." At this he got his fingers nipped. "OK, not a girl any longer. Madam or matron? OK Madam Hedwig." At this Harry laughed, his familiar was back. Nothing could go wrong tonight.

Lucius knew he should be upset, he was relegated to an also-ran in his own house. His wife playing hostess to the Lestranges, the Dark Lord and his cupbearer. He then looked at his wife and he forgot his misgivings. The boy had healed his wife. Oh how he hated the Potter boy for derailing his plans to bring down Arthur Weasley, but the boy was a Master Healer. That fact did not sit with all his son had told him about Potter Then again, Draco was still a child, innocent of the true nature of man. Maybe Draco should come home at Christmas if just to see his mother truly well and happy. That sight alone was worth all the gold in the Malfoy vaults. Narcissa had insisted for years for Lucius to stay in Britain and work to regain his family honour and place in society. In truth, his mistakes were his alone. If his families standing in the new order came from Narcissa's good relations with the Dark Lord, who was he to complain. He would continue to play politics in the Wizangamot, increase the family holdings and sit back and enjoy his growing family.

The heavy oak panelling in the family dining room in the West Wing, was the room normally used by Narcissa for entertaining her guests. She had hand written the invitations in gold and indigo ink on cream embossed parchment emblazoned with watermarks of the Black and Malfoy families. The place settings were miniature versions of the invitations. Indigo ribbon accented the napkins, the fine Sèvres dinner service, gold goblets,cutlery and candelabra. Then a house elf placed flower arrangements on the table. It looked perfect.

Narcissa had been educating Lord Potter on the finer points of etiquette, wine and food. The boy thought treacle tart was the best dessert in the world. She had picked the menu tonight, a very muggle influenced menu with Beef Wellington and Pavlova for dessert.

Sirius had changed his clothes four times before settling on an set of dark blue, very conservative robes. He looked in the mirror and grimaced. His hair was tied back, his beard gone. He looked so like his father. He had three carefully chosen gifts, for his host and hostess, He-who-must-not -be-named and his godson. He had questioned Ron and his brothers about what Harry liked and disliked and hoped Harry still loved flying. To think he had had several pleasant conversations with his cousins, Cissy and Bella. Andromeda would not give him the time of day, just because Sirius wanted nothing to do with Dumbledore or the Order. Being a neutral was painted as the same as dark by the old Headmaster and his cronies.

He flooed straight to Malfoy Manor and was met in the reception area by a radiant looking Narcissa.

Sirius stepped forward with a formal bow, matched by Narcissa's low curtsy, "Darling Cissy, you look wonderful. I'm so glad we put our differences aside. You were always my favourite cousin."

"Don't be a sly old charmer, you said that to each of us in turn when ever you came over. Come through to my private sitting room, I have a guest who wishes to meet you."

The room was decorated in greys and blues, it faced south onto the gardens. Harry though the spouses private rooms were the nicest and cosiest in the manor. The day was grey and wet and Harry had spent the morning with Hedwig, but she was now resting in the owlery. The door opened, Harry stood to greet his cousin and godfather.

"Good Evening, Lord Black." Harry bowed respectfully.

Sirius stood and stared, it was James but wasn't. The young man before him had messy hair, the greenest eyes he had ever seen, the nose chin and cheekbones were pure James but he was willowy thin, like Lily.

"Pup, its Padfoot, no need for formal titles I... I made a stupid mistake when I handed you to Hagrid. I assumed he would take you to Minerva. That she would act as your regent and see to your safe keeping. I was an auror and went to do my duty. I have learned that as a Black my record at the Ministry as one of the best meant nothing, my name alone saw me imprisoned." Sirius wanted to swept the boy into his arms, but he was a stranger to the boy he should have brought up.

"Did you plan to honour your obligations to me?" Harry said looking at this an intently at his godfather.

"Of course. Lily and James had discussed that Minerva, Minerva McGonagall and I should share custody if you were under five. It was all detailed in the custody papers. I was to adopt you. I even agreed it with my Grandfather, Lord Arcturus Black. I would like to honour those plans. I would still adopt you, Harry."

Harry stood and stared at the man and was glad when Narcissa broke the silence with the arrival of tea.

"Do you still fly Harry? Ron, Fred and George told me all about yiur time playing Quidditch at Hogwarts." Gushed Sirius, "I brought you a gift. A firebolt. The best broom on the market."

"I haven't flown since I left Hogwarts. It was the one thing that made me feel free there. I thought going to school would be like having a family, it was, just like the Dursleys. I have family here, on my own terms. I would like to get to know you, and through you know my parents, but I am not James. I am my own person, not a puppet pr golden boy for the Ministry or Dumbledore."

"Don't worry Pup, I'm not a fan of that man or my previous employers, not anymore."

"So you are no longer a member of the Order of the Pheonix?" Harry asked slyly, before sipping his cup of Darjeeling.

"My membership was revoked in 1981. Look, I lost everyone I held dear when your parents and grandparents died. My mother was a complete bitch. I don't want to talk about those dark days. I want to tell you about what a scary, brilliant firecracker Lily Evans was. How James was a love sick fool for her. They were a fated match." Sirius' whole face seemed to light up as he started to talk of his great friendship with James. It was during this that Harry realised Sirius; love for his parents was pure and devoted. There was no way this man could have betrayed his brother. James and Sirius had been as close as Tom and himself. No wonder the man offered to adopt him without knowing him, this was unconditional love. It was the first time in his life Harry had experienced it from an actual relative who he last met as a fifteen month old.


	14. Chapter 14

The Dark Lord pondered the Lord Black, the man had survived over ten years in Azkaban and remained sane. He had know three Lord Blacks in his lifetime, each steered the family with the family's good standing and fortunes in mind. He continued to observed the man as Black and his cousins were talking animatedly. Had just his innocence protected him or had the man hidden depths. The mage then looked at his young companion who looked briefly between the two men and smiled before looking down at his hardly touched dessert. Tom's furrow bowed, Harry had taken to eating much less heartily since they had left Calcutta. Maybe they should escape to the muggle world for some Indian food to remind Harry of his former home, and it had been home. The cold splendor of Malfoy Manor was beautiful but forbidding despite Narcissa's best efforts to make them comfortable.

Tom's plans were marching forward, a whole series of legislation had been put before the Wizengamot and he needed to be here until the Ministry reforms were in place. With Fudge and his chief backer Delores Umbridge neutralised and Dumbledore's faction greatly reduced as Amos Diggory manouvered to remove the old man's power base. Losing the boy-who-lived had destroyed Dumbledore's reputation. Most knew the boy had exiled himself after the debacle of the Chamber of Secrets and had vasty surpassed the expectations of the Hogwart's teachers. Most pureblood families assessed and tutored their own children extensively in the holidays to make up for the schools restrictive and narrow curriculum. Motions before the board to introduce Wizarding Culture, Politics and Etiquette classes had been rejected by the Headmaster. The idea of compulsory Muggle Studies for all seven years to include the vast changes to Muggle culture and technology in recent times, was still under discussion by the Board of Governors. The present Muggle Studies Professor had at least been sacked as she had no idea what a computer or mobile phone was.

Coffee was being served, the ladies retired to Narcissa's drawing room and to the gentlemen to the attached small games room.

Sirius looked puzzled as Harry excused himself to bed rather than stay up any longer. The Dark Lord had touched Harry along his jaw and neck before a brief kiss goodnight. It had been very intimate.

Lucius sat and pondered the stilted silence with a globe of his best cognac. It was then that a package was produced rom Sirius' robes.

"A present or rather I'm returning something my brother took. I only ask for Regulus' remains wherever they are to be returned for internment in the Black Mausoleum and for you not to punish the family as a whole for his short-sightedness."

The Dark Lord knew as soon as the package was in the open what was within it. He briefly left the room. Harry was startled from undressing as the Dark Lord entered their bedroom. A locket with the Slytherin family crest was placed around Harry's neck. With a swift incantation in parseltongue, Harry knew he would never be able to remove it, the object was tied to Tom and Tom alone. "For safe keeping for now. Nagini, Harry you must both go immediately to our safehouse."

Harry could sense his brothers disquiet, whatever had happened, Tom wanted his brother safe and hidden. Harry gripped Nagini and then activated his emergency portkey and they both vanished into the night.

The Dark Lord returned to the room with the two silent men, their obvious dislike tempered to sullen avoidance. Voldemort decided to give the man a carrot and make him a future ally, even if the man was decidedly neutral.

"Lord Black, thank you for returning my misplaced property. I have much to do now. I will uphold my end of the exchange." The Dark Lord made to leave without any need for excuses or goodbyes, he now had had various places to visit, to check his enchantments and his precious horcruxes. In his former incarnation he had been too arrogant and blind to his faults. He would have to hid his soul vessels in different places, without connections to his past. He was too sentimental and predictable. His enemies had second guessed him. Lucius had used one of his precious items for his own plans thinking Voldemort dead. How many others had been disturbed, stolen or destroyed?

The Diadem was removed and hidden in an area imbued with natural dark magic in distant Connemara, its wards would keep it stable and protected from all but himself, Harry or Nagini. No one ventured here by choice. He recovered the Gaunt Family ring and pocketed it, as a family heirloom it like the locket needed to be doubly revered. The cup was safe in Gringotts for now. Harry. Nagini and the locket were hidden in a small croft fifty miles north of Ullapool. Isolated and windswept, the croft looked like a ruin in a bog until the Dark Lord crossed the wards, wards that would repel and confund all. The wards of the house would banish those who crossed them.

Sirius was woken far too early by his no good bad tempered house elf, "Filthy Master has a blood traitor visitor."

Sirius came downstairs to find his visitor perfectly at home as Arthur was stood in the kitchen making tea and toast. Knowing Arthur's work load, the man had probably worked all night.

"How is Harry?" The red haired man asked as he placed the food and teapot on the table.

"Healthy and happy, I guess. That bastard treats him well." Sirius sighed as he sat in his favourite seat. Harry, in fact, had looked a lot better than in those photos taken at Hogwarts. Sirius sat back and tried to relax. He could tolerate the kitchen. The one room in the house that did not have bad memories.

Arthur poured the tea and with resignation stated "If what Bill found out is true, they as soul bonded." The idea of that lovely child being a soul jar to He-who-must-not-be-named broke Arthur's heart. The boy who had stayed with them, who had saved his daughter, who had befriended his youngest son was now a possession, one who would always be controlled and practically imprisoned. The boy would never have friends again, the Dark Lord was covetous and controlling of all his possessions.

"And I handed 'him' back one of his horcruxes to get into his good books." Sirius was almost completely depressed by the whole scenario. He had the political clout to make a difference to the magical world. He was going to work to make sure all magical children would be protected, nurtured and receive adequate medical care. His godson had been a horcrux after Lily sacrifice backfired. The soul fragment should have been removed straight away. Then Harry would have grown up normal, loved, not the pawn of both light and dark factions. "So, no return to the reign of terror?"

"Maybe just because the neutral faction holds power. The dark faction do not want hand power back to Albus" pondered the older man, who was more at home here than with his own wife. Sirius had welcomed the Weasley family into his home, not that Molly had ever set foot in Grimmauld Place. "No that would lead straight from cold to a very hot civil war. I have spoken to Lucius, the reforms being proposed are not dangerous, in fact I agree with most of them. Muggles are fascinating but far too dangerous. Our enclaves need to be strengthened against their technology. To change our wads we must educate ourselves about the new science and technology. Muggleborns are the key to our survival. They will keep us ahead of the threat of discovery."


	15. Chapter 15

Harry re-read the four day old copy of the Prophet. There was no real news, just gossip and other boring articles on the comings and goings at the Ministry. He then went to the bookshelf to trace his eyes over the titles. Books on Arithmancy, numerology, hexes, curses and magical creatures. All old and obscure, hand picked by Tom to peek Harry's interest. His exile was to be spent reading. Not that he was alone. Hedwig had found his hideout and managed to hoodwink the wards. The owl could always find her human, Harry would never assume he was anything less than hers. She was a queen and he was a mere boy to entertain her. She sat asleep perched on the end of a fine richly carved oak chair. Nagini was outside, still within the wards but hunting or maybe just in wait for some unfortunate animal or passerby to ensnare and feed upon.

The hovel, as the croft was, a simple two rooms with a magically added bathroom within the bedroom. Harry kept warm in front of the peat fire and ate the simple meals he prepared from the wide variety of ingredients kept in stasis in a hamper. The wonder of magic meant the food stayed as fresh as the moment it was purchased. It was more like home than the palace in Wiltshire. Harry had cooked a pot of vegetable curry and the dough was rising for some flatbreads to be cooked on the griddle. The mage did not use magic, he would not alert any to his presence. Harry looked out at the darkening sky, wondering when he would see his brother again. Tom had only visited twice, both times he had been exhausted and craving a long undisturbed sleep in bed with his two most trusted, his familiar and his soul-brother.

Harry had written three letters, one to his godfather, one to his teacher Madam Kahn and a joint letter to the Black sisters. He hoped Tom would convey them as Harry would only let Hedwig out to hunt. She was no mere post owl, as precious to Harry as Nagini was to Tom. Harry then mused on his brother. The Dark Lord whose crusade to improve and strengthen the magical world was consuming him. Tom was able to keep working only knowing the fact Harry and Nagini were safe and hidden. Harry did not mind this strange place. There were a wide variety of ghosts, which wandered abroad but did not speak, they were not interested in the living. They were wisps of grey visible at odd times during the day and night. The area had for hundreds if not thousands of years been a focus for sacrifices to the gods, whose domains were entered through the dark pools of water on the peat bog. The chosen were garroted, strangled or bludgeoned to death at the mid-Winter solstice.

Harry chose a book on the 'Celtic' pagan religion, the old ways. Of a time when wizards and muggles lived together. Shamen, druids, oracles, healers had started to hide themselves after the Roman's arrived. The magical population thrived in hidden communities, the beginning of the segregation of the those with and without magic. The whole subject not covered in Magical History class at Hogwarts. No History began with Merlin and Morgana in the early fifth century. Harry noted a full and sleepy Nagini slither into the bedroom. She was likely to sleep for days digesting either a large hare or a dog, judging from the bulge in her belly. He was busy reading on Solstice rituals when the wards shifted. Tom was back.

As soon as the Dark Lord entered the house, he went straight Harry and hugged his brother. The five days in London had seen his plans reach their zenith. A coalition between Dark and Neutral now ruled Britain. He had avoided a second war. Now, he would wait to see how Dumbledore's Order reacted. They were few in number and their power base had been severely eroded in the last three years. Most of the damage done not directly through Voldemort's actions but by Harry's. The Boy-who-Lived had left Dumbledore's control and like a house of cards the old man's supporters and political power had slipped away. He had promised to keep Harry safe and protected, the truth was Harry had been neither with his muggle relatives. He had been beaten, starved, verbally and emotionally abused and kept ignorant of all things magical.

Voldemort stroked Harry's happy face. The two brothers only truly at peace and whole together. Both could feel the pull of each others magic as they touched. Harry stopped shielding and relaxed. Tom then smelt the curry and smiled. "How did you know I was coming tonight? Don't tell me the cards told you."

"The cards tell me lots of things. No I cooked curry because I wanted to. Sit. I just need to grill the flat breads and we can eat. No Lassi though, only tea. Unless you want a whisky?"

"Whisky?" Tom looked puzzled. He had not packed any liquor in the hamper.

"It was in the cupboard by the fire. Its old, very old. You might have to check if its drinkable, I thought the stuff improved with age, but I'm no connoisseur of such things. I know I can't stand cognac thats for sure."

Harry lay awake as Tom snored beside him. Normally the fact his brother was sleeping would aid his restlessness, but the moon was shining through the small window casting shadows across the room. He softly stroked Nagini who wheezed rather than snored. His mind went back to sleeping in the dorm at Hogwarts listening to four other boys at night when he could not sleep. Dean mumbling about football, Neville grinding his teeth in frustration, Seamus' tossing and turning and Ron's prolonged silences and then snorting deep breaths. He had not missed Hogwarts. The final months at school had ended with Hermione petrified and Ron demanding he save his sister, going to face a monster alone after the bungling of the teacher. Lockhart just another example of an abusing adult. Harry did not miss his friends, his life had changed so completely, they were memories, the one light in his unpleasant life before Tom. He still worried about Tom constantly. Would he like all others just ignore. reject, hurt and lie to him. Then Harry touched his brother, who stirred slightly in his sleep, shifting closer to Harry and Nagini. Tom had been sixteen, not quite an adult, when he had given Harry his deepest darkest desire. He had promised to treat Harry as family, to love, cherish and protect his precious brother always. In truth it was forever and always. That fact did not scare or cause Harry to want to rebel. This was happiness. He knew he would always act only under Tom's direction, and would always strive to make Tom happy. Even if to do that he had to stay hidden. Even in this exile he would have Tom, Nagini and Hedwig. As a chid he'd wanted true friends. His letter to his godfather was an opening for Ron and Hermione to remain in contact. Penpals rather than best friends. Not that Harry expected them to want to talk to him, now he was the companion of the Dark Lord. Harry still had problems equating his Tom with the thing on the back of Quirrell's head, but Tom had explained it as the taint of compulsions and dark magic had twisted his former self into that bitter wraith. Tom was his and that was all that mattered.


	16. Chapter 16

Tom slept late and woke next to his snake. Nagini stirred to move to the other room with her master before curling up to doze next to the fire. Tom sat and his brother came in carrying a plate of berries collected from the overgrown garden. Harry washed the fruit and then joined him at the table, both the coffee and tea pots were charmed to keep their contents at the perfect temperature. Harry sipped his darjeeling and Tom savoured the coffee. The Dark Lord could see Harry was worrying over something.

Harry decided to break the ice. "I had a strange dream last night. I was trapped in a dark house, Sirius was there but not the man I met but one still affected by the Dementors, half crazy and calling me James. Do you think he only thinks of me as a fragment of my father?"

"His feelings for you are strong. He will parle with me even though he despises me. I think he would destroy me, but he will not endanger you. He knows we are strongly connected and that fate binds us."

"Stupid Prophecy. If I could undo the damage I did to you as a baby I would. I vanquished you once and that idiot Dumbledore thinks I'm the key to destroying you once and for all, destroying myself in the process. I am not his pawn, his thrall. I have a life now a million times better than before."

Tom had long forgiven Harry for the events of Halloween 1981, he had been a baby. His magic had restored him, returned him to sanity, saved him and the magical world. "Even here, alone and without your wand?"

"Even here, darling Tom. Come tell me all about your victory over Dumbledore. I wish I had been there when you revealed yourself to the old meddler."

During the last session of the Wizengamot before the Mid Winter Break, Dumbledore paled as he saw who Lucius Malfoy's guest was. There in broad daylight was Tom Riddle or the newly created Lord Slytherin-Gaunt. Tom had claimed his titles since the passing of his uncle, Morfin. The man looked in his early twenties, which would be correct when Ginerva and Harry had resurrected the dark lord from his first horcrux, the sixteen year old Tom Riddle preserved in his 1943 diary. The headmaster had spent many hours studying Hermione's and Ginerva's memories of the events in 1992, when everything had gone wrong. The session saw three radical pieces of legislation pass into law, Albus felt old as he had not seen the new alliance. He had been outplayed as Lucius and Amelia Bones joined forces freezing him out of government policy and any significant roles in the judiciary. He noted the smug smile on the true power behind the legislation dictating controls on muggle interaction, the education of muggle-raised children and the removal of Hogwart's staff as those children's in loco parentis guardians. The Department of Muggle Affairs was created. The Director was Ted Tonks, a lawyer/advocate who specialised in cases involving both worlds. A seemingly light candidate for the post, but Ted Tonks had personal reasons for disliking the headmaster. Albus had threatened to expel Ted over his romance with Andromeda Tonks, they had continued to see each other in secret, eloping after their graduation to live in the muggle world. His daughter did not understand his dislike of the Headmaster, but for one who spoke often of the power of love and understanding, Albus Dumbledore had done the most to keep their society stagnant and backward.

A series of failures, starting with Hagrid's arrest, Ginerva's being taken into the Chamber of Secrets, then Harry disappearing, Sirius Black's innocence, but in the end his lax attitude to Barty Crouch had been his undoing. He felt old thinking about Harry, the boy who wanted family above all other things. Dumbledore had maneuvered the boy to accept his place joining his parents at the right moment, his death defeating Tom but Albus' careful plans had come to nothing. He had no idea of what had transpired in the Chamber of Secrets only the horcrux had claimed Harry, maybe it had always been a plot to gain control of the last horcrux, but Dumbledore did not think so. Strange magic was involved. The deepest of magics of the universe were love, forgiveness and sacrifice. Tom was now controller of the Potter Estate. Sirius' freedom had not changed that. The new Lord Black had taken the stance of keeping the status quo, concerning Harry. A mature decision, considering Harry had disappeared again. Albus had engineered a raid on Malfoy Manor for dark artefacts. None had found none, the Azkaban escapees were not there and neither was Harry. That act had seen his influence in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement disappear. Even the ever paranoid Moody thought Albus was chasing shadows now.

The Meeting of the Order of the Phoenix in the back room of the Hogs Head saw less than a dozen stalwarts turn up. Moody, Doge, Diggle, Molly Weasley but none of her children, nor her husband sat at one table, Minverva McGonagall, Remus Lupin, Sturgis Podmore and Aberforth Dumbledore sat together at another. The Headmaster arrived with Severus Snape. No young members to make up for the losses in the first war and several prominent members were absent.

"Remus, did not Arabella and Sirius get their messages.?" enquired the Headmaster genially.

Remus surpressed a snort. "Arabella told ,e me and my ilk were not welcome around decent folk."

Moody muttered "Thats what happens when you send an outed werewolf as messenger boy."

Remus glared at the old auror before continuing, "Sirius' house elf called me a Filthy creature and a traitor to house Black. I doubt the thing passed on the messge I left. However, my owls to Sirius since his exoneration have gone unanswered. I'm afraid Sirius has not forgiven me for letting him rot in Azkaban."

It was Snape who sneered at this statement. "You are very mistaken on that point, Wolf. Black will never forgive you the fact his godson grew up with no knowledge of his parents or the marauders. You practically caused the boy to think he had nothing to stay at Hogwarts for. The boy knew nothing of his parents, their achievements or their sacrifices. No wonder he ran off with the Dark Lord."

This statement was aimed at everyone there. No one had sought out, comforted or befriended the son of two very popular and respected Order members. Snape also spoke of his personal failure, only seeing the son of Potter not the child of his dear Lily.

"Now, no recriminations. Our past failures will not be aired here today. We must prepare for the fact that Voldemort or Lord Gaunt, has returned to walk amoung us. His faction has bewitched the neutrals with promises of a safer world for out children, but we must not be lulled into a false sense of security. It will be only a matter of time before those not in league with the Deatheaters will start disappearing again."

The meeting started with Snape's intelligence report. Of the young healer-mage reversing the affects of Dementors on the Azkaban escapees and the fact it had been Harry who had masterminded the breakout, with no loss of life and no permanent damage to the Guards.

Dumbledore personally knew how seductive power and darkness were, especially when espoused by a loved one. Albus had no doubt Harry was completely in besotted with this younger incarnation of the Dark Lord. The rumour was the two were lovers in every sense. It mirrored Albus' youth. What would open Harry's eyes? Dumbledore would try harder to recruit Miss Granger to his group. The youngest Weasley's were all now neutral following the dictate of their father.

It was Alastor Moody who interrupted the Headmaster's musings. "So do we have an action plan or are we here just to navel gaze? The one thing I want to know is who warned the Malfoy's of our raid. I bet it was your pet deatheater."

Snape then let rip, "and how would I warn about a raid I knew nothing about. I know you do not trust me, but I risk my life every time I venture into HIS presence. One whiff I'm loyal to the Headmaster and its not death I would have to fear but the vengence of the Dark Lord. Regulus Black betrayed him ad was fed to inferi."

"So that was the fate of Regulus." muttered Dumbledore, who in private would enquire of Severus just how Heir of the Black family betrayed his Master.


	17. Chapter 17

Dowager Lady Longbottom waited for the arrival of the Hogwarts Express the day before the Mid Winter solstice. She waited for her grandson who was midway through his fifth year at Hogwarts. A boy who had grown into a handsome young man, strong and resolute. Abite one who had started to defy his grandmother. He had last summer, on the insistance of his tutor that Diggory boy, gone out and purchased his own wand . She had only found out because she noticed the small details in his casting and demeanor. She was sure Frank's wand was a perfect match for Neville, but she realised even though her grandson was so like his father, she was no wandmaker. Neville was possibly a more talented and stronger wizard, just proving the match between Frank and Alice had been a good one. She then thought on her son's relationship with Ginny, the old woman was not sure about Ginerva Weasley being a suitable choice as the future Consort. Arthur had broken her contract with House Potter. That was a good match in anyone's eyes. No, Augusta would attend the balls this season with Neville. He would court the most suitable girl. Maybe even that Muggleborn he was friends with. Yes, she would invite over Hermione Granger for tea with her parents to appraise the girl. Lady Longbottom knew the girl had caught that quidditch player's eye, but Count and Countess Krum would insist on a pureblood match for Viktor. The fact was James Potter had married the most talented and powerful witch in his year at Hogwarts despite her lack of lineage and produced a mage was enough reason to contemplate the Granger girl, who was pretty, smart and in line to apprentice under Minerva. Another fact was that Dumbledore himself had a muggleborn mother.

She looked at Neville as he walked down the platform alone. The boy, who had grown another couple of inches, was going to be tall. She then fixed a hard look on her face. "Come on Neville, we have a guest for dinner tonight." Neville knew better than to question his grandmother in public. He followed obediently to the Apparition Point. He was glad to be going home. He and Ginny had broken up. The girl was now going with Dean Thomas. It hurt, but maybe it was better this way. He knew his grandmother disliked Ginny. He was bound to be engaged come the summer. He wuld be married by his eighteenth birthday and a father by the time he was twenty. That was his future. His grandmother had conceded that his choice of career was his and his alone, but she would approve his wife and the precarious situation of him being the last Longbottom with very little chance of his parent's recovery or siring any siblings it was up to him to strengthen the family and ensure its continued survival and prosperity.

The manor was late a timber framed medieval hall and fortified manor house. A tall stone wall enclosed the grounds with dense woodland beyond with views over the dales to the south. The gardens were sheltered and the range of glasshouses and large walled garden had been Neville's favourite places to play and later toil growing up. He had a fine collection of rare botanical specimens and he knew his vocation was to become a horticultural specialist. He did not want to teach, no matter how much he admired Professor Sprout. His father's choice of career as an Auror had been out of duty to protect the Ministry and Populace from the emerging Dark Lord. No, Neville was not Auror material, if pushed he would protect his family, hearth and home but that was the limit of his defensive ambitions. He had no wish to be Dumledore's pet. If Harry had left, he had a good reason for doing so. The rumours were that Harry had joined You-know-who and had tempered the Dark Lord. The reign of terror had not restarted and the Headmaster of Hogwarts was not as benevolent and light as he made out. Harry was no dark wizard, of that Neville was sure of. The shy boy he remembered was kind and gentle. No, Harry was now a trained healer, so he still was a light or neutral wizard. In fact being a neutral or grey wizard was the order of the day as no one really wanted to side with Dumbledore and his faction.

Dinner was to be served in the family dining room in the west wing of the house, the majority of the manor was mothballed as only the two of them and occasionally Uncle Algie lived there. The room was oak paneled with a heavily decorated plaster ceiling. The motifs depicting the long and turbulent history of House Longbottom graced the painted plasterwork. Neville entered after rushing to wash and dress in his informal dressrobes. He could hear his grandmother talking as he entered. There was a dark haired young man there already.

Harry turned around and bowed as his old friend Neville entered. "Greetings Heir Longbottom."

"Salutations, Lord Potter, welcome to Longbottom Manor." Neville bowed in return in, formal, polite and utterly proper for his station in life, a future Lord greeting a Lord.

The old woman, wearing dark pink dress robes in heavy brocade, snorted. "The boy should have been brought up here. Alice was his godmother. Damn Albus for sending him to those muggles. Damn him to hell!" The woman then took a deep breath "Forgive an old woman cursing an old fool. I listened to that old man and the alliance between our houses could have faltered because of him."

"I came tonight with two purposes. Firstly to reaffirm the traditional blood oath between our houses. I must ask as you both know my allegiances are neutral. I will never follow Dumbledore or his Order. The second matter is to plead an end to the kanly between two noble houses, between family." Harry stressed the family, as they were all cousins through Black grandparents and great-grandparents.

"Kanly?" Neville asked perplexed. To his knowledge their were no active blood feuds.

Augusta summoned an elf to order pre dinner drinks. "We will toast each others health and prosperity, dine and then you boys can reaffirm house oaths. Only then will I discuss the mistakes of the past."

The magic between the two boys was strong. The last members of both families to mark the alliance of the two houses formally had been her bonded, Marcellus and Charlus, the boys paternal grandfathers. Frank and James had never been close. Frank had been a serious, studious child and had disliked the loud boisterous Potter boy. Neither had become close as they grew into adulthood, it had been Sirius Black who had been as close as a brother to Harry's father.

Harry turned to the Longbottom matriarch and prostrated himself to beg for his plea of reconciliation to be heard. "Dowager Lady Longbottom, I intercede on behalf of the wronged party. My dearest cousin, Narcissa, wishes for the feud between our families to cease. She has been cured of her affliction and after many years of pain for both side, she wants to pled forgiveness for the actions of others in her name. She had no foreknowledge of their actions and in no way condoned the evil acted on Heir Longbottom and his wife."

Augusta looked at the boy laid infront of her. The past fifteen years had been filled with hate and bitterness. It did not surprise her that Narcissa had been ignorant of her sister's actions. Bellatrix had been quick to anger always and was almost as hotheaded as Sirius. If the attack in 1981 on House Longbottom was reviewed as an act of kanly, the Wizangamot would have to pardon those imprisoned for the use of an unforgivable curse. The House Lestrange would only have had to declare kanly to Frank, the perpetrator of the crime and he was lost to insanity. The fact Barty Crouch Junior's mother was a Lestrange, all aligned with Bellatrix Black, made more sense than the the pile of hippogrif manure that Dumbledore had spouted at the trial, loyal supporters of He-who-must-not-be-named torturing the Longbottoms about the disappearance of their Lord.

"I will think on it, Lord Potter. Indulge an old lady and let her sleep on this most important decision. I'm afraid I have kept Neville ignorant of his father's ..." Augusta paused, according to the Ministry enquiry, headed by Crouch and Dumbledore, Frank had not committed a crime, but he had almost killed Lucius Malfoy's wife and unborn child. Narcissa had been delicate since, unable to carry another child to term. Augusta then settled on the word, "Frank's misjudgment. Please excuse us. You are welcome to stay the night and my house elf, Mitz, will show you to our guest house in the grounds."

Narcissa collapsed in relief with the news the formal vendatta between her sister, the Lestrange's and House Longbottom had been resolved. The news would lead to four loyal supports no longer being fugitives, but just another example of an unfair trial under the despotism of Albus Dumbledore and Barty Crouch Senior.

Harry looked at his Lord, who had taken a leap of faith to allow this particular piece of politicking to further estrange Neville Longbottom from Albus Dumbledore. The hiding of the Act of Vendatta on Dumbledore's direction had meant Narcissa had not been able to seek a formal apology from House Longbottom and had caused the whole sorry mess to enfold as soon as the Longbottom's emerged from hiding.

"I told you it would take a couple of days to sort out. Luckily, Augusta respects the old ways too much. Kanly is a matter of honour. House Longbottom can now prosper once more. I missed you so much. I barely slept a wink alone. Finally I understand your reticence at being apart. I hate it. I am so selfish as Nagini always stays with me."

"Its a necessity not selfish. I want Nagini with you always. You protect each other. I have thought about giving you a personal guard as well. I have enquired of some specialists in that area, from Japan. Very discrete. You would never know they were there. I promise."

Harry thought on this. "Ninja's really exist?"

"Yes. As a precaution always keep your cloak handy and your portkeys. I fear Dumbledore and the Order will become desperate. They have lost. Now I fear they will resort to terrorism."


	18. Chapter 18

Harry arrived back from the memorial service with Narcissa. It was two days after Christmas and he went straight to his room in Malfoy Manor to lie down and relax after several hours of tedious small talk and politeness over tea and dainty sandwiches after the speeches extolling Regulus Black's many virtues. Sirius had taken the mantle of Lord Black with all its responsibilities with all the cold calculating efficiency of any Slytherin. Family above all else. Harry had been introduced to the wide variety of cousins including the trio of the older generation Blacks, Cassiopeia, Lucretia and Druella. Harry had been tempted to quote Macbeth but doubted anyone there would have recognised the reference to the old crones. He had been quizzed closely especially by Cassiopeia about his mastery in healing. The old woman was a potions mistress in her own right with over sixty years of freedom to continue her academic pursuits since the early death of her husband during the unpleasantness with Gindewald as she termed the war in the 1940's. Harry was accepted as Sirius' godson and heir, but moves were afoot to marry Sirius off to a suitable young lady. Narcissa had circulated through the ladies networking and gossiping to find a strong, spirited girl to stand up to and compliment the first Gryffindor head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black.

Harry pondered the events of the past two days. He knew that Regulus' remains had been interred in the Private Black Family Mausoleum just before Christmas. Thankfully Harry had not been expected to go to that. Something along the lines of Harry being a good Christian boy, which he wasn't. If any one asked he would have said he was a devotee of Kali, but that was stretching the truth a bit far. Harry's religious practices had nothing to do with what he learned at primary school or from the Dursleys. He had been influenced by the old ways in Britain from Tom, a mix of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon, and a whole pantheon of religions from Mrs. Kahn, from Persia, India, China, Nepal and Tibet.

Christmas had been another strange day. In Harry's short life he could remeber actually celebrating it twice, both at Hogwarts. He could not remember his first Christmas with his parents, when they were in hiding. During his studying in Calcutta, it had just been another day. Luckily this year he had spent the day with Tom, Hedwig and Nagini; leaving the Malfoy's to celebrate as a family. It would have been too weird to share the festivies with Draco. Tom and Harry had arrived back at the Manor with Draco back from school. The young Slytherin had secretly watched his parent's guests with his eyes flicked between Harry and Tom with a slightly green tinge to his face. Harry had nearly burst out laughing at Draco's obsequious crawling when introduced to the Dark Lord on Christmas Eve. God, Harry wanted to go back into exile, he hated having to interact with people, but Tom said it was a necessary evil to network and gain supporters. A power base that was growing all the time as Dumbledore and the old crowd were marginalised more and more.

Harry had fallen asleep and was woke by Tom returning. The older man sat on the bed, and stroked his companion's soft hair.

"You are unhappy being back here." Tom stated to Harry, reading the young mage's mood.

"I'm a teenager. Its just a phase. I liked the shack in the middle of nowhere. The idea of always being watched and protected is weird. Your magic, your wards are enough." Harry stated without moving, enjoying the contact with his brother and the waves of his magic soothing and calming him.

"You are unlike any other teenager. You accept what life throws at you and go with it. I would expect you to scream and sulk. You accept my abrupt changes of living arrangements with no questions or complaints. I know you dislike Draco intensely, but you held your tongue not to upset me or our hosts." Tom moved to lie next to Harry, both of them staring up at the velvet embroidered canopy of the large over the sinfully soft sleigh bed.

"I leant early in life complaining, sulking or creating a scene meant pain, no food and isolation. I know you. I would never push you or invoke your enmity. You are generous with your time, your comfort and reassurance and you never leave me alone or enclosed." Harry did not add to the fact he still disliked enclosed spaces, loud noises or discord in general. Tom himself, in private liked quiet, contemplation and solace. They complimented each other without the need for expressing wants or desires.

"Do you not want to spend time with your Godfather?"

"Sirius, no. I think Narcissa's plan of getting him wed to a woman who will rule him and guide him, give his fine sons is a noble quest. Sirius needs family. He sees me and I hurt him by reminding him of his perfect past. A past viewed through rose tinted spectacles and I, who found family with the big, bad wolf."

Tom laughed, "I like that. Are you Red Riding Hood to my Wolf?"

"Well I'm definitely no Grandma or Huntsman." Harry then sighed deeply. "Do I really need to go to the new session of the Wizengamot?"

"Yes, the Potter seats are voted by proxy. You are emancipated, so Elphias Doge should have relinquished his proxy last year. He has done no such thing. I have written to him three times and the man ignores my correspondence, as your steward that is very rude bordering on complete disrespect to your person and station."

"So I get to be very rude back?"

"No, be forceful and polite. Show you are strong. After the session on the fourth, Lucius can use your vote. You return to practising your healing."

"I have no need to set up a practice. Narcissa has sung my praises to her circle of ladies. I will practice when all the danger of Dumbledore has passed. How we neuter that man without making him a martyr is progressing very slowly." Harry grimaced thinking of the manipulator and the reason for most of his personality quirks, forever an abused child seeking comfort.

Dumbledore as Chief of the Wizengamot stood outside of the Ministry Chamber to meet and greet, hoping to give a good impression to sway a few to his position as two key pieces of legislation were to be voted in today. The debating and the wording of the bills honed. Augusta came in with two dark haired young men and Lucius Malfoy. Augusta was holding fort and the three gentlemen were listening intently to her discussion. Albus peered through his half moon glasses to get a clear view of the two strangers to note both Lord Slytherin-Gaunt and Lord Potter. He had no time to summon anyone from the Order and only the few older members were present today. Elphias Doge had been telling him for two months that the Steward of House Potter, the new Head of the prestigious Slytherin-Gaunt family had requested private meetings to end the Proxy to the Potter Wizengmot seat. Albus had told Elphias to stall. There would be no more stalling as Augusta was making a beeline to introduce Lord Potter to the Honourable Elphias Doge. It was at this point, Madam Griselda Marchbanks cornered Albus so he could not intercede on his old friends behalf when faced with two of the rising stars of the Wizengamot and their young Protege.

"Good Afternoon, Elphias, You look well."

"As do you, Augusta. May I enquire who your young comanions are. I do not believe we have been introduced?"

"My Lords, May I present the Honourable Elder Elphias Doge." The old woman watched the Elder dip his head in a slight, and considering she had introduced her guests as Lords, inadequate bow. "Elphias, I am very pleased to introduce Friend and Bloodbound Ally to House Longbottom, Lord Harry James Potter, and his Steward and confidant Lord Slytherin-Gaunt and of course you know Lord Malfoy."

The old man looked sharply at the three men who all bowed low in deep respect. It was the young Potter who spoke first. "As an emancipated minor due to my Mastery gained at the the Highly respected Society of Magical Medicine in Paris, even more reputable and renown than our own St. Mungo's, I have decided to follow in my Grandfather's footsteps and shape our society for the better. I request you stand down as a Proxy. I must say I am rather confused as you have never once consulted me or my chosen steward on my political responsibilities or your voting choices, as was your duty since my eleventh birthday."

"I must apologise Lord Potter, I was assured your Magical Guardian undertook these duties before you took a Steward" Doge almost sneered at Lord Slytherin-Gaunt at this point. "As an Elder of this fine chamber, my voting record is unblemished. I have served for nearly eighty years and I am no johnny-cum-lately."

"Umm, the magical guardian stated in my parent's wills and the only legitimate spokesman for my father's dying bequest was in Azkaban, so how could Sirius educate me on my place as future Head of House Potter?" Harry stated with a most beguiling and innocent smile. "I have only met my Godfather twice since his exoneration and my return from studying in India. So we are still not close. I do not believe you have corresponded or talked to Sirius either and I know you have ignored the correspondence from my steward. Not the conduct I would expect from a respected elder. So, Honourable Elder, you have been relieved of your responsibilities. My seat will be in my hands from now on. Good day."

Elphias had never been dressed down by a mere boy before. He had no recourse for any complaint as he had followed Albus' instance to stall the sundering of the Proxy until the summer session. Now he had been dismissed in a public place and everyone here would be gossiping about it for months if not years.


	19. Chapter 19

Harry watched Tom and Lucius network, charm and debate. The whole 'going into politics' experience was very educational for young Lord Potter. He smiled when introduced but his time was mostly spent listening and learning. Harry kept close to Tom, even with his two hidden portkeys this was a rare opportunity of the Order of the Phoenix to try something. Harry never looked in Dumbledore's direction and was glad when the session started. It was a fairly straight forward matter of voting for the two pieces of legislation in question. The loss of the Potter proxy was embarrassing and costly for Doge and Dumbledore, one less vote for a faction which had been hemorrhaging supporters. The gossipers here also noted the fact Lord Black had arrived, taking up a seat vacant for nearly seven years since the passing of Lord Arcturus Black, Sirius' grandfather and Harry's great uncle. Sirius sat with Amos Diggory and the rest of the neutral faction. Harry sat with Lucius and Tom, between the neutrals and the dark families. The chamber had stagnated since the losses in the 1970's and early 1980's. Nothing much had changed in the interest of keeping the status quo. In the last two years ther had been a turning point with the rise of a third, so called neutral, voting block. Several prominent families including the Weasley's, the Bones, the Digorry's and the Longbottom's had decided better be dark than manipulated and ignorant. The zeitgeist in the political arena followed Harry's own conclusions about the running of magical Britain. Progress or stagnate and die. Albus Dumbledore was no longer symbolised the great savour of the Light but a misguided old man, if liked or an old fool to busy to do his main job as an educator.

Harry felt a connection with the family he had never known when he voted for the first time. Generations of Potters had sat and debated in this Chamber. Even so, he would leave speeches and becoming a true player until after his seventeenth birthday. He was seen as a boy, still eighteen months from the milestone of true adulthood. He had to socialise first and be accepted, he was a Lord of an ancient house, one dormant since Charlus Potter passed in 1978. Harry had not even explored his holdings or the contents of the family vaults. He had no idea if there was a family tapestry, journals or portraits. Harry knew he was unlike any other Head of House. Muggle raised, he would always be an outsider except to Tom.

The session ended and Harry moved to talk to Sirius and Augusta, leaving the heavy discussion of the muggle threat to his elders.

"Just to warn you, Lord Black. I removed Elphias Doge as the Proxy for the Potter seat earlier today. He looked a bit put out." Harry worried the old man might be a bit sharp at Harry's godfather due to his sharp tongue and lack of proper respect. Maybe Harry was to have left the proxy in place until he was 17 like a good little pawn

"Thats a bit hard, Pup. You normally do these sort of things in a private meeting."

It was Augusta who laughed at this point " The honourable Gentlemen should have answered his post then. Lord Potter's Steward has been trying for two months to arrange an appointment with the man. I've never known Elphias be rude or forgetful. I leave that sort of thing to Albus, impossible man that he is. Just, try and get a straight answer out of our Chief Warlock, pigs might fly first." The woman then turned and gave a short nod to the older matriarch. "I must excuse myself I really must have a good gossip with Griselda about the educational reform act. Good Evening Gentlemen."

Both men bowed low. "So Doge is playing by Dumbledore's rules. I still haven't forgiven him for sending you to Petunia. Minerva had right as nominated House Regent. We were both pawns of that man and his vision of the future."

"Really Godfather, a future with no Potter and no Black family in it. I wonder what our crime was or did we suffer for the crimes of our fathers"

"Orion did nothing overly evil or dark. he was a bit spineless, he let mother dearest run house and family holdings. grandfather could not stand Walburga, He always favoured his sister Dorea though. Narcissa was most insistent I tell you all the dirt on the family. I still can't believe you grew up and did not know Lily's or James' names. They were great people. Never doubt yourself, they would be so proud of you. No matter what you chose to be. James cold never decide on a profession and just fell into working for the DMLE. Lily was always going to be a spell crafter and researcher with a keen side interest in potions. So bright, I hear just like Hermione your friend at Hogwarts. I forwarded your contact detials, You still haven't got any post?"

"Neville writes. No one else. I don't mind. We all have different goals now. I hear you got Ron an apprenticeship sorted?" Harry stated with a tired tone. The past was truly another country.

"Yes, poor boy hates school. He's talented but just not book smart. How he stays friends with Hermione I'll never know." Sirius snorted thinking of the bossy girl he'd met briefly last summer when she stayed with the Weasley's.

"She was just the same in first year, bossy, crazy smart, bookworm. You should have seen her idea of light reading. Well, we became friends after the incident with a troll. Ron and I talked on the train and got close. He distanced himself from me over the parseltongue incident and after Hermione was petrified I spent most of my time talking to her petrified body in the hospital wing. Ron was a bit distant until Ginny was take into the chamber. I decided to leave school after that." Harry had been so lonely.

Sirius looked at the sad expression of Harry's face talking about Hogwarts. Even with his own record detention's he'd enjoyed seven glorious years there. Harry, under the weight of everybody's expectations and prejudices had left. "So studying in India was better?"

"Madam Kahn was an unusual teacher. I was her patient first. I had growth problems and my eyesight sucked. She drew me out of my shell, taught me how to learn, that it was okay to ask questions. Once I started I did not stop. I think I had ten years of questions bottled up. I don't think I would ever have come out of my shell at Hogwarts. I would have kept my head down and kept trying to be invisible. As an apprentice you are shown how to motivate yourself. I proved to be exceptional student. She says I'm her best pupil ever. She's been teaching for over 150 years." Harry did not add that she had turned Tom down as an apprentice, suggesting he stick to the dark arts.

Sirius watched his godson talk. He was like his grandfather, Harry Evans. He was a quiet thoughtful but very intelligent man. He had risen from orphaned barrow boy to manager at the factory in Cokeworth. With a stint in the Army in the early 1950's. He'd left school at 12. Lily took after her dad. There was a lot of Dorea there too. Sirius wondered what the boy would have been like if his parent's had brought him up. He'd not have been shy or lacking in self esteem thats for sure.

It was at this point Sirius noted the manipulative old codger himself coming over. Harry saw Sirius' expression change from contemplative to hard and frosty.

"Good Afternoon Chief Warlock. You look well. It must be all the hot meals, restful nights and no dementors." Lord Black made a pointed barb at his own illegal imprisonment. Before Azkaban he had considered Albus Dumbledore a friend, one who would always look out for him. Now he would not trust the man as far as he could throw him as he manouvered himself between the manipulator and his godson, protecting Lord Potter from the old man and his games.

"Good Afternoon, Sirius I was wanting to have a word with young Harry."

"Why do you need a healer?" Sirius smirking that Harry level of education was way beyond anything taught at Hogwart's.

"no, no I'm quite well. I just want to enquire if he is well and happy."

" I can answer that. Yes to both. He prefers to be left to his research at the moment and not bothered by nasty old men."

Harry almost laughed at this point as Sirius stood his ground. Lord Black could spend all evening insulting his ex-headmaster.

Lord Slytherin-Gaunt stood behind Albus Dumbledore and coughed/ "I'm sorry Gentlemen, but Lord Potter and I have a prior engagement. Lord Black, Lady Malfoy would be delighted if you could come to tea as well. She has a few matters to discuss with you."

Harry walked around to stand beside Tom, careful to give Dumledore a wide birth. "Goodbye, Chief Warlock." He had no wish to see that man ever again and was thankful he was leaving.


	20. Chapter 20

Harry groaned as he twisted and turned in his bed, kicking the quilt and sheets off his too hot body. Sweat made the hair stick to his forehead and his silk pajamas clinging to his skin. He dreamed of his brother, Tom, who was talking to an old man, wrinkled, wizened, skeletal. He mumbled Tom's words, mirroring his brother, who was over 600 miles away at Nurmengard, speaking to the last, failed Dark Lord. Harry in his dream learnt the secrets of Grindelwald, the Hallows, the Elder Wand and his one time co-conspirator and lover Albus Dumbledore. Harry woke and noted Nagini still asleep in the twist of the bedclothes. He sat up and let out a long breath before laughing, not in jest but slightly hysterical before silencing himself by clamping his hands across his mouth. Albus Dumbledore, behind the Merlin-like visage was a true megalomaniac. Dumbledore was no hero. He was a puppet master first using his lover Gellert to track the hallows, with the one goal of becoming immortal overlords and then fooling everyone of his goodness and integrity. The duel which lead to Grindelwald's downfall handed the Elder wand to Dumbledore, a man who held every position of power in the Wizarding world, bar being Minister, seeming to not want the responsibilty but in fact shaping policy and legistation for fifty years from the sidelines. Harry then jumped out of bed and went to touch his cloak. The invisibility cloak passed down father to eldest child from Ignotus Peverell to the last Potter, to him. The Cloak was a Hallow, a relict of Death himself.

The young mage could not sleep, his mind whirring. He quickly washed, dressed and went to study in the the vast library of Dark, Old and Banned Books collected by the Malfoy's over three hundred years. Many written in French and Latin, the universal languages of the educated, royalty and polite gentry in the olden days.

The sky had lightened and darkened again before Harry let out a long, frustrated breath. He could find no mention of Cadmus Peverell and the Resurrection Stone. He could scream in frustration. He returned to his room after realising he had neither drunk nor eaten for over 24 hours.

Nagini sensing Harry's frustration as he returned to their room, snuggled in closely as Harry summoned a house elf, ordered food, not caring what came and indulged himself with a bottle of Burgundy from Lucius' fine wine cellar. He had grown to like vintage wine and his favourite was Pinot Noir. He had drink a glass before the food arrived. Harry then remembered the Malfoy's were out so nothing would have been prepared for the evening meal. He looked at the house elf and apologised to Mitzy and said if it was a bother they could order out for him in future. The elf knowing the strange wizard's peculiarity of addressing servant's as equals, smiled and stated it was not a bother. Mitzy, a Black family elf, was Narcissa's servant and she liked the Great and very humble Harry Potter. She like all elves had heard stories of his kindness and he was never curt, never cruel. Always thinking of the toil and work of others, thanking them for their effort. He was a good wizard with a white, pure soul. It had been many years since Mitzy had seen such beautiful magic.

Harry drank and for the first time in years, felt lonely. He left the wine and the barely touched food. He looked at the moonlight illuminating the grounds of the manor. Dark shadows played across the shrubs, hedges and trees. The young man hissed in low tones, "Nagini, would you join me for a stroll. I need fresh air. A walk would help me think."

The snake moved across the floor and hissed back. "You never leave this strange place, never walk in the sun or the moon. In the place of Kali, you went to market, healed at the temple, spoke to the holy and the humble. A hunt would be good for both of us. Maybe your owl would join us, show us where the rats, the mice and the rabbits hide."

Harry stood and watched the family wards move and shimmer. The night was cold and there was a heavy frost on the ground. Nagini was protected by a strong warming charm, keeping her happy and healthy. The wizard had seen a herd of thestrals in the woods at the edge of the wards. He had seen plenty of death in Calcutta, He remembered a young girl with dragon pox. Her fever had been running uncontrolled, bright and hot. Harry had burned his arms and hands holding her as she died, giving her comfort with no heed to his own pain. Too late her family had sought out the temple, the fever had travelled into the girl's magical core, burning too fierce and untamable. The child would have been a strong witch, if she had lived. It had been his first and most important lesson as a trainee healer, to loose a patient but also to comprehend that sometimes a healer could only provide comfort and ease a person's journey across the river dividing the mortal and the chthonic.

Harry noted the beauty of deep winter, the frost and ice, the wisps of mist formed by his breath and the inky black clarity of the sky. The stars shone and he took the time to see the movement of the celestial bodies and the man made satellites which polluted the heavens. How could a centaur divine with so much recent additions up there? He mused on the fragments of astronomy he knew and then promised himself to read up on the finer aspects of astronomy gained from muggle observations using huge arrays of various telescopes in all reaches of visible and invisible light, even one telescope in the orbit itself.

Nagini grumbled about poor hunting and that no sensible animal would be abroad on a criminally cold night. Harry sat and pondered life in general, happy for the silence and the peace. He turned abruptly when he heard the crunching of the cold ground under someone's footsteps to see Tom returned from Germany.

"Good morning Harry, I see you are pondering the mysteries of the universe and listening to Nagini grumble. You must have worried her greatly for her to abandon a warm room and comfortable bed to accompany you out here. It is bitter tonight, my love." Tom noted Harry and Nagini were enveloped with a warming charm, so carefully applied that the frost did not melt beneath them enough not heat rise from its close confines. It was so simple, such a small detail but yet so impressive in its precise control. Tom leaned forward and kissed the toasty warm scalp of Harry and then Nagini. "I have missed you both."

Harry turned to hug his brother and then connected his researches of the day to his brother soul and cousin. "Come, let us bathe in the house. I feel a fool for not suspecting, your family ring, its a Peverell family heirloom. Your second horcrux is a hallow." Two hallows had remained with the family over the centuries since the three brothers crossed paths with death. The wand had passed through many hands as Antioch Peverell, who with had no wife nor any heirs. His fate to be murdered for his treasure.

"Its a fairy tale. The hallows are meant to have different owners." Tom was sure its promise of ulitmate power was an illusion, a myth for those who read and believed children's books.

"Are you sure, Tom? You are not the first wizard to attain immortality." Harry said with certainty.

"Really? I spent 10 years as a bodiless wraith, with less corporeal presence than a ghost." Tom almost sneered but caught himself. He stroked Harry's warm smooth skin on his cheek, still hairless and boyish.

"The Flamel's are still alive. He created the first philosopher's stone. It makes sense he just made another and tricked the fool headmaster that he wanted to pass onto the next great adventure." Harry spat out the lie from the Headmaster's own mouth, a man that coveted immortality and power. "The Alchemy Gazette still has a column written by Frere Rosato Cruis, the pename for the founder of the Order of Alchemists, one Nicolas Flamel. I'm being very sexist saying that. For all I know it is Perenelle Flamel is the alchemist and head of the Order. I wrote to them both, after the incident in First Year. I sent the missive via the Goblins. I knew even Hedwig might not find them. I was quite distraught they were doomed to die because of the Headmaster's attempt to entrap you, havng promising to guard and keep the artefact safe and secret. Nicholas wrote back in December that year, thanking me for my efforts to protect his property and that both and his wife were well and on an extended cruise. They had no plans to return to Europe for several decades if not a couple of centuries." Harry explained, knowing this bit of information was already part of their shared consciousness. One of the subjects they never broached because of the pain of the troubled past before they shared everything. Harry squeezed his brother's hands and kissed him with affection, on his cheeks and a brief touch of the lips. "We must plan to relieve Dumbledore of that wand, a wand that must be rendered powerless. Its pull, its history is too bloody, too dangerous. Please do not be tempted by it. Its power is a trap."

"How do you explain Dumbledore's continued good health?" Tom queried.

"When did that man last duel? I know you never directly confronted him. Everyone reveres him. No one has crossed him in fifty years. No one know's his wand is the Death Stick, the Gift of Death. He also left Gellert alive. He did not kill to take ownership. So there is away around its curse."

"Knowing its cursed, means I have to change my plans." Tom stated cryptically.

"Why don't you lay a trap yourself?" Harry said being equally obtuse.

"I think we have much to discuss. I do not wish to talk all night outside in the freezing cold."


	21. Chapter 21

"No, I forbid it! Its too dangerous!" Tom shaking but not with fury, the fact was fear was fueling his emotions. He stood rigid with his back to the hot headed Gryffindor, far too close to lashing out blindly.

Harry stood his ground, even though the air in the room was charged, and for fifteenth time the younger mage underlined his preferred plan of action. "What better lure than myself. You can draw out Dumbledore. He has lost control of the Wizengamot. He is under scrutiny at school. Those he can count on as faithful followers are few, but he still stands in opposition, a symbol of 'light, truth and justice' to the fools and the weak. You have already agreed to lay a trap for the manipulative bastard. What better bait than me, the prophecy child and horcrux?"

Tom turned and refused to vent the maelstrom of need, and his overriding instinct to possess, to control, to protect. He trusted Harry above all his Deatheaters, but he would not, could not sanction his brother's safety for the possibility of complete triumph. The promise of an unconditional victory, with Dumbledore damned forevermore for his crimes. "I will not use you for the greater good. I will not lower myself to his level." Tom turned to Harry. "You are strong and beautiful. I fully believe you have the ability to take down the manipulator. I worry needlessly for your safety but I will protect you above and beyond my own well being. I would prefer to take us both back to hidden obscurity than give that man the chance of hurting or manipulating you again."

"I am watched, protected , 24 hours a day. Even here your little friends are monitoring me. You do not even trust with your inner circle who are magically bound to you. You suspect each and everyone of them of spying or having their own agenda. Its protectiveness bordering on paranoia, brother. You have sent your familiar away. All your soul anchors are secured in separate locations, locations no one could guess or betray. I am tied to you for all eternity and I thank the god's for my fate. I know I'm pushing you to act because I cannot wait for our future together safe and without enemies. That would be my idea of bliss, just you, Nagini and myself and no one else. Now, I'm being selfish. Your ideals, your goals are just and worthy. By using me you would achieve them earlier. Secure a victory with no bloodshed. I'm guilty of trying to manipulate you, I know, but I want an end to the game of cat and mouse."

Tom smirked at Harry's candor. His anger and fear had bled away. "If, and I mean if, we plan to lure Dumbledore to disclose his true face, we must be damn sure you are protected. Maybe I could use that slight of hand and illusion you are so fond of. There maybe a way to fool the bastard to think he has you, when he has nothing but smoke and mirrors."

...

Fifth year was possibly the worst year yet at school. Ministry inspector's were evaluating the curriculum, the teaching, the examination grades and even the house system. Inter house cooperation and clubs were being promoted. Most of the initiative's led by those do-good duffers in Hufflepuff, but even Slytherin had joined in with chess, latin and fencing.

Ron had not joined any clubs, not even chess. He ignored his sister, as she started a Quidditch tactics and game strategy club. The girl had suggested Ron start a broom care and management club but he did not want to talk to anyone about anything, preferring to pretend to study. Even his growing attraction for Hermione was squashed. What was the point in dating, being an adult or moving on. Hermione was still close friends with that Bulgarian. Ron looked up to see Longbottom arrive in the library with Hermione to study. Neville had tried to tell Ron, Harry was still Harry, but how could the useless fat lump know anything. He had not been best mates with Harry, just an occasional acquaintance at best, who was now lulled into a false sense of hope and complacency by the thing Harry had become. This 'Harry' no longer lived for Quidditch, flying, goofing off and having fun. Any Gryffindor would be better off dead, than controlled, a slave or if the rumours being spread around school were true, a toy boy. He chewed the end of his quill, and pondered the fact he had sat on his arse and allowed Sirius to chase after Harry, but now Black was happy to keep quiet and not rock the boat just to have some contact with his godson. Ron knew Sirius only knew the Harry after the disaster of the Chamber and not the great kid he was before. The ex-convict was a fool to accept this situation. Everything was wrong. Harry should be here at Hogwarts not some stuck up, super smart supposed snake-healer. That was not the real Harry at all. Harry should be dating Ginny, not that git Dean. At least she'd dumped the loser Longbottom.

Ron had heard the arguments of his parents, well the few times his parents interacted now seemed to be shouting matches. Holidays for the two youngest Weasley's were split between staying with their mother at the Burrow or their father in London at Black's house. The young boy had picked up on the fact Dumbledore wanted to be proactive in stopping the rise of the Dark faction, the fact it was imperitive to vanquish the Dark Lord and to kill He=who=must-not-be-named Harry also had to die. That fact was the reason his father had cut ties with Dumbledore and his 'Order', The elder Weasley wanted to protect Harry. If Harry was content and happy, however deluded, that was better than the life Harry had to endure before. The first letter had arrived from Harry last autumn, the Headmaster had gotten Ron and Hermione to promise not write back, then his dad had told Ron it was probably easier to let bygones be bygones. Harry would never be his best mate again and did Ron want to settle for being just a pen-friend? Ron Weasley was a good, dutiful son, he listened and obeyed his parents and had not replied to Harry's letters. Poor controlled, trapped Harry. Ron felt so powerless, regretting his decision in June 1993 when he had pushed his best friend to rescue his sister, for her to be freed and Harry to be forever lost. Ron had hoped to see his old friend over the summer, but Harry never went anywhere without his master and only Black got invitations to the freaking Malfoy's den of shadows. Ron was taunted by the fact by that git Malfoy daily at school. Ron had gotten very good at ignoring the pompous, stuck up Slytherin Prefect. God, Longbottom and Granger were the Gryffindor prefects, what a joke. A weak fool and the girl who knew every school rule and made no exceptions for anyone, not even friends. Ron went back to re-read his short and very concise Transfiguration essay, thankful of Sirius' tutoring in the summer.


	22. Chapter 22

Lord Potter had spent weeks studying the Hallows and concluded their power was intrinsically flawed. The cloak was a true gem of magic, but it was hidden, a family heirloom and only of use to those of the Peverell bloodline. No non-heir could use it. The stone was a necromancer's dream tool, but necromancy was an art so specialized and with such restrictions that only closed orders and sects still practiced raising the dead. Why would any one in Britain do such a thing with ghosts to ask or portraits of your ancestors and the great and good to converse with. Finally the wand, Harry had observed his memories of Dumbledore. The old man rarely did magic, the power of his casting was a secret he did not want to share. To take power overtly would have advertised the fact the old man wielded Grindelwald's wand. The headmaster, as a possessor of a hallow that attracted treachery, kept his boon by hiding rather than flaunting death's wand.

With one branch of study exhausted, Harry decided to be sneaky, but learning the Japanese language and culture was just the tip of the iceberg. His instructors were his bodyguards. The team of ninja's used nicknames, Mika, Takihiro, Daiki, and Yoshio. The three men and one woman were old, but looked in their prime. They were kindred spirits to the young mage. He had been right to state that Tom was not the only immortal wizard. Any wizard could work to such a goal. The key to immortality was to blend into the background. Even such famous wizard's such as Nicholas Flamel lived behind wards so dense that they only invited a few select scholars to meet or interact with. The ninja's went to the opposite extreme, most thought of them as a legend, half forgotten, but still available as mercenaries to any that could survive the task of seeking them out. The fact his brother had endangered himself to gain these mavericks allegiance was one of the reason's Harry was acting out of character. He had been attuned to wards and strong magic since learning about his skills as a mage, but to use his magic to observe all nature and to then blend himself into the life of all things, it was shadow-magic and Harry loved learning its secrets. None in Europe had learned such things since the brutal repression of non-sanctioned religious practices under the Roman Empire.

Harry knew Tom could sense him, even under his family cloak, but the magic he was using allowed him to eavesdrop on the Inner Circle and could possibly even fool Tom. The thought of being in a room without even his brother knowing was strangely thrilling. The ultimate game of hide and seek. He stood in the shadow of a column, he himself was semi transfigured to mimic the cool stone, his life-signs and breathing slowed. Only the fact he knew occulmency meant he could concentrate his conscious thought to happenings in the room. He had been here for four hours, it was a lesson in patience and control. His bodyguard, Yoshio was also in the room, observing his pupil for any errors in his task. He had in two hours to extract himself without alerting anyone and give a detailed report on all that had been observed. It was spying, but not really. If Harry wanted he could be an observer of any meeting, but the reporting of the movements and motivations of the Order of the Phoenix were plainly boring.

The activities of Draco Malfoy were being reported in detail to the Dark Lord. The boy by his taunting and gossiping at school was slandering the most dangerous man in Britain by saying he was in an illicit relationship with the Boy-who-lived. Snape had warned Draco numerous times to shut his mouth and keep a low profile, but the boy knew no candor and it seemed had no sense of propriety when out of his mother's strict control. Narcissa would never lower herself to insult anyone. Charm and politeness were the sign of a true bred witch or wizard. Boasting and taunting were the ultimate sign of uncouthness and unbecoming of any of Black blood. Draco had hated the fact his mother doted on the Potter boy for his discretion and ability to remain calm and good natured. The Malfoy boy loved to ride on his family's place in high society without thinking of the wider consequences of his bullying. Those he teased and harmed would one day be his fellow peers and future colleagues.

It took all Harry's will power not to move when he listened to Severus Snape's report on the attempt of Dumbledore to garner supporters at Hogwarts. Snape and McGonagall had been ordered to get students to sign up. The Weasley boy, Ronald, sneered Snape as he spoke of the lazy and talentless Gryffindor, had joined, so had the mudblood chit, Granger. However the new 'Chosen One' Longbottom, continued to excel in class but remained neutral, ignoring his head of house and her overtures of friendship. Harry's best friends were now enemies, on the opposing side in the coming war. A tear escaped his eye and froze on his cheek. Battle lines were being drawn.

...

Draco spied on his godfather. Snape was supposedly loyal to the Dark Lord but had ratted out his father at the first chance he got. The blond youth's lip sneered as he listened in to the conversation between that bitch McGonagall and the traitor Snape. Draco had used his allowance to buy a wealth of useful gadgets from the Weasley Twins. The shop assistant had not even noted his glamoured appearance during the summer holidays. The Malfoy heir hated the fact his mother was heavily pregnant, he did not want siblings, but his parent's had not even consulted him over their decision to procreate. It was disgusting at their age anyway. A family only needed one heir. God, his mother was getting more and more like that fat cow Molly Weasley ever day. His mother wanted more children after this bastard. Draco took down notes, now he had to spy on Weasel and the mudblood as well. Maybe the fact he'd acquired a few cursed items and vile's of poison this summer would come in handy. He could frame Snape for murder. He thought on this, but that would not help his cause in the long run. As a Malfoy, it was his duty to return his father to his rightful place at the Dark Lord's side. Draco deep down was starting to resent the presence of the Dark Lord and his followers in his home. He thought long and hard and came to the conclusion the Dark Lord's political agenda was too extreme and god forbid too pro-mudblood. The blond boy was not stupid and his ideals were not those of his parents, his family name came first. The resurrection of the Dark Lord had not, in fact destroyed Potter but made him his closest ally. Draco would destroy Potter, Snape and all others who stood in his path to greatness, including his soon to be siblings.


	23. Chapter 23

It was near the end of August, The headmaster's desk was covered in scrolls and manuscripts written in Arabic, Latin, Greek and Coptic. All filled with detailed spells, brews, rituals and sacrifices long forgotten. The works were the ravings of lunatics, of the follower's of the Demonic Arts, the Necromancer's, the Depraved and the Desperate. Dumbledore's plans were nearing completion, all he had to do was draw Harry into the open, he could subjugate the boy once again. It was too late for Harry really, the Chosen One was utterly corrupted by Tom. Dumbledore would transfer his essence into Harry after removing the boy's soul and the soul fragment. Using the boy's body to replace his own old, cursed and dying one was critical to his plans now. Severus would fall prey to the curse on the DADA position this year, the old man was sure the man was only loyal to himself. The series of failures since the Chamber incident had made Albus rely more and more on the Potion's master, as the man was doubly trapped by an unbreakable vow to protect Lily's boy and the life debt to James Potter. It had amused Albus no end of how the man despised Potter but was duty bound to help and protect the object of his vitriol and hate.

After he had gained his youthful new body, when he was close to Tom, he would gain the knowledge of Horcrux's to destroy this usurper, who had never understood the true power of magic, the magic over death. He finally would wield all three Hallows and rule forever. Albus wondered why he had not thought of using the Potter boy before, but he was a sentimental old fool. He should have moved earlier so not allowing Tom to gain the upper hand. The ritual needed a corrupt soul in the chosen vessel, it was impossible to use on the pure of heart, body and soul. The magical backlash from such a abomination could level a city. Harry was no virgin, no light wizard and his soul was beyond redemption after joining with Tom.

The runic array, blood magic would require all his skill and the necessary potion was so complex even he as a Master Alchemist would be hard pressed to brew it. Maybe he would lie to Severus, tell him it cured this curse of withered and rotten flesh, he would think on this. He really should not trust the man. A man who should already be dead from his failure to protect Harry, but if anyone could circumvent a vow, it was that duplicitous Slytherin.

The old man studied the list of ingredients, and gave no thought to the fact the perch at the side of his desk had been empty for several days. Fawkes had abandoned his human friend, his bonded, the one who had sought redemption with an open heart many years ago. For years, the phoenix had tried to steer his companion on the right path. The fire bird had lived within the Forbidden Forest for thousands of years, always drawn to those who needed a guiding hand. With the latest corruption there was no hope for the present Headmaster of Hogwarts. He would fail and pay for his crimes for eternity beyond the veil.

...

The Prince of Slytherin, Draco Abracsus Malfoy, was lying on a bed in the Room of Requirement. This place was truly wonderful. A chance discovery of his the previous year while on prefect patrol, when he had seen the Squib Longbottom emerge from a hidden door. This place was full of items to steal, perfect for his covetous nature. He had stowed his less than legal items in this room with all the junk and rubbish collected over 1000 years since Ravenclaw had Slytherin had constructed the runes to shape this space. He had picked a bed with the slightly singed dark red curtains to rest on. He did not want to spend any time in the dungeons under Snape's watchful eyes or being spied on by his fellow pupils. It had been quite amusing when Blaise, in a fit of trying to be friendly, had told the Malfoy heir to be careful and stop and think about his actions. He had another tail apart from his fellow Slytherin's to worry about. Draco knew that the Mudblood was spying on him. Funny the stupid bitch thought he was under orders from the Dark Lord to undertake some nefarious scheme. He had not been careful enough, if she suspected him, his Godfather would definitely know he was acting out of character. Maybe he could use her and her need to do good to his advantage. He could make out that he was afraid of the Dark Lord, his father and his crazy Aunty Bellatrix. If he spun a good enough tale he could be accepted by the Light. The insane headmaster believed in redemption above all else. No, he could not trust those fools. He would either curse or poison Snape and then move onto his family. When he had control of the Malfoy holdings he could evict that thing that his father bowed and scrapped after. He, Draco Malfoy would bow to no one. Maybe he would keep Potter though, he was a pretty little thing, who would be all the prettier broken, bloody and collared. No he could not think about Potter both The Dark Lord and Snape were Master Legimens, he had to calm his mind, no distracting thoughts. He had to lay low for a while. At least until next June, when he reached his majority. He would kill Snape first. Maybe he should start with the Mudblood, just as a trial run. Umm that plan had promise.

...

The Headmaster was a relative recluse. Minerva was worried about her friend and also her prefect, Hermione Granger was burning the candle at both ends. The girl had fallen asleep in class, Minerva had sent her straight to Poppy and the school nurse had put the girl on enforced bed rest in the Hospital Wing to recover from exhaustion. Minerva suspected that Albus had given the girl as special project. One she was dooing on top of seven NEWTS and her prefect duties. The stupid girl was not sleeping or resting at all. The poor girl was going to miss the first Hogsmede weekend but the Head of Gryffindor was going to lay down the law, Hermione should concentrate on her studies or loose her prefects position, that would frighten the girl to comply. Poor Hermione would be mortified to loose her status.

After weeks of seeing Mudblood Granger everywhere, the one time he wanted to see her she had disappeared. She was not on patrol in Hogsmede and the Prefect's rota put her on Main Street today. If he could not get Miss Know it all, he would settle for one of the other bitches in Gryffindor.

Hagrid wandered into Hogsmede for a brew and a gossip with the lovely Miss Rosmerta. He strode past three third year boys, laughing and full of boisterous enthusiasm of their first trip into the village. He then turned into the Lane by the Shrieking Shack and saw Katie Bell on the ground, Still and deathly pale. Beside her gloved hand was a package. The half giant was smart enough not to touch either the girl or the package. The parcel had a torn corner as if just opened by the girl. Inside was a beautiful opal necklace.

Hagrid got the attention of the boys "Go get help. Katie Bell had been cursed. Alert the teachers and Nurse Pomphrey. The area needs to be made safe."

Soon the area was swarming with Aurors and the cursed necklace was sealed and taken as evidence. Katie was beyond Nurse Pomfrey's help and critically ill, the girl was portkeyed directly to St. Mungo's. This incident harked back to those dark days when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.


	24. Chapter 24

Harry stood with his two visible and two unobserved bodyguards in the corridor outside of the emergency examination room on the ground floor at St. Mungo's. He had listened intently as the Auror and the attending Mediwizard gave details of the curse. Gringotts had already appraised the object and it had been put in statis, now it was evidence of attempted murder. The staff had stabilised the spread of the dark curse, but Katie Bell was in a coma. The girl lucky that she had minimal contact with the cursed necklace. The curse should have destroyed any that touched it. Harry Potter was a Master Healer, specialising in curses. This was his first official medical referal. St. Mungo's normally did not seek the help of independant specialists.

"Yoshio, I need to see the patient. You can accompany me, but do not touch anything, do not cast any magic. Observe and use non-magical means within the room. The assessment room has been designed to suppress all magic, it is the only thing keeping Katie stable at the moment." Harry then addressed the Mediwizard, "I need to access the patient, then I need to remove the dark magic very fast. The Duchess Romanova's cursed necklace had been used as an effective assassination trap for years. I trust you have a Gringott's standard wardstone to transfer the dark magic to. The Goblin's will then have to dispose of the stone in their forge." Wardstones were normally made of hematite, the best were untouched by magic weilders until used.

Katie was critical but stable. The curse was designed to inflict torturous pain. The arithmancy cage needed to syphon the putrefying disease was very complex to cast and had to be done before the curse had chance to spread. Harry would have to act as a flux, lancing the dark stain spreading into the girls magic, and then using his own magic to flush her system. He would be drained and need to rest for days after this. "Yoshio, I will need to go straight to the safehouse after this. This proceedure is not dangerous, just draining. I'm afraid I'll need bed rest myself for a few days."

Calista Smith Bell, was on the Board of St. Mungo's and personal friend of Narcissa Malfoy. The woman had begged her friend to get the best healer available for her daughter. It had been Narcissa who had intervened, persuading the Dark Lord to allow Harry to attend to her friend's daughter. Harry had not divined with cards or sought to attune himself to the numerology. Life was focusing down to the end game and the broken prophecy. He knew there were now no pointers, just the duality of black and white, yes and no, live or die.

As he worked, Harry focused on the task at hand, a young girl's life in the balance. It was one of the most draining, dreadful and at the same time exhilarating moments when healing a critical patient. He held the runic matrix in place, drew out the foul magic polluting the pure vessel. He mapped out Katie's magic, seeing her recover as the moments past, her skin changing from grey to pale, not healthy but better. Her breathing evened out, the sharp draws of breath and shuddering gasps became smooth as if in a restful sleep. Harry then the wards he had wandlessly created drop and he sat back heavily. He mediated as the Junior Healer removed the twisted and deformed ward stone to a safe location, it would be sent to Gringotts with all other magical waste for destruction.

"Master Healer Potter, we must go to the ground floor for our arranged port-key. Do you need to assistance or can you manage the walk?" It was the insistent tone of the chief bodyguard.

Harry noted his own vital signs. "I need assistance, I am quite drained and could do with a few hours rest." The other healers knew the whole procedure was draining for a specialist curse remover. They did not fuss over him, letting him get himself back to a point where he could just leave. Yoshio, grabbed his arm and lifted the young man to stand, supporting him as they slowly made their way to the reception area.

Harry was not paying any attention to the busy hall, the sound of patients, visitors and staff. He was thinking of laying down and resting. Yoshio moved to the left and Harry felt the bodyguards magic shift around him. They had shifted out of eye view, Harry was immediately alert, the sudden adrenalin rush would make his impending crash oh so much more draining. He saw the old man, the manipulator and the master of Trelawney's Prophecy arrive to visit his injured student, if you did not believe in coincidences. The Old man was here to talk to Harry, to trap him if needed, to get his pawn back under his control. Dumbledore walked forward and then paused, turning to observe a shimmer of magic, seeing through Yoshio's shield. The Old man smiled and in an instant had his wand drawn. Harry in an instant shouted a warning for all to take cover as Yoshio's shield buckled under the onslaught of fierce magical bombardment. In that instance, the other bodyguard drew the attacker's fire. Daiko and Mika remained to fight as Yoshio practically picked up Harry and sprinted faster than any old man could, to the transport threshold and activated the portkey.

Dumbledore's senses were aware of the movement of the shielded mage. He had been close enough to talk to Harry but he had been too slow to stupefy the boy. With a flourish of pure magic Dumbledore was able to follow the portkey signal, he had spent years honing that skill. He got to the apparition point and followed his instincts.

...

Harry collapsed as Yoshio gently touched down, then the Japanese sorcerer picked him up and apparated straight away. Apparition was too much for the mage who threw up on the doorstep of a familar cottage. The Ninja pulled the boy into the heavily warded house and set about making his charge warm, comfortable to allow him to rest. They awaited the other ninja's, who were now charged with removing the threat if possible and regrouping if not.

...

Dumbledore had expected to arrive at Malfoy Manor but was surprised to be in a heavily wooded area, with no landmarks and no line of site out of the dense tree canopy and no other persons in the vicinity. He could make out the quickly fading trace of two magical signatures, one of which was Harry's. He moved to the exact spot they had landed on to see no trace of the portkey, a thing normally discarded by traveling wizards, so he had to rely on his detection skills. Dumbledore knelt and touched the area where one wizard, definitely Harry, had fallen. The trail was not another portkey. He had no choice but to return to Hogwarts.

...

Kingsley Shackholt looked over the evidence from the sale of a displayed dark artefact at Borgin and Burkes. The notification sheet stated it had been bought by one Argus Filch. A man who had not the means to purchase a 3500 galleon necklace. The man on that day had also purchased ashwinder venom, a Class I restricted Potions ingredient and poison from MacQueen's Cauldrons and Potion Supplies on Knockturn. The witness statements from Hogsmede stated the Squib had been on duty at Hogwarts all that day. Three witnesses stated Draco Malfoy had been following Katie Bell. It was a long shot but not wanting to be outsmarted or out manouvered, the auror put a full search request in place. Draco Malfoy was the most likely suspect, as several students stated he had been acting out of character all year. He was also likely to be the victim of the Imperious Curse.

Draco stood by, impassive and quiet, as his trunk was searched by Aurors as he and his hated head of house watched. Blaise Zabini unobserved had spoken to the Auror and mentioned the room on the seventh floor, magically concealed but available to all, where Draco had been spending nearly all his free time. Blaise, as a matter of self preservation, did not want to share a dorm with a murderer, especially one sloppy enough to get noticed on his first try. Malfoy was paranoid enough to try and eliminate anyone he considered a threat and in Slytherin hat meant all your fellow students. Blaise also knew that Malfoy's sudden change from sloppy bully to psychopath may not be of the boy's own choice. It would not be the first time a teacher at this school had used the Imperious curse on a student. If it was the case, Blaise would point his finger straight at the duplicitous headmaster.

The search and subsequent arrest, awaiting a Healer's report on Draco Malfoy had taken place with no Headmaster to intervene. Dumbledore would normally have protected his students, by refusing the Auror's access. A tactic that normally gave the suspects time to cover their tracks. Half of the Headmaster's network of contacts were former students who owed him a favour resulting from transgressions at school. A list that had included James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

...

Narcissa sat in the Auror Office in London, heavily pregnant and visibly tired.

"Please tell me who cursed my son, because Draco is no murderer. He has always been a gentle soul despite Lucius' efforts to toughen him up."

"Your son has been cursed, the magical signature is clearly in place. We have a suspect but we cannot release their name until we have more evidence. Your son is being transferred to St. Mungo's. He shows signs of mental instability caused by the Imperious Curse. He should recover. Rest and a quiet environment are needed." The Junior Auror, Nymphadora Tonks was very sympathetic to her aunt and the fact her sixteen year old cousin had been forced to do despicable things. The caster had known what they were doing, playing on the boy's insecurities and pushing him to become violent.

...

Seven aurors had been dispatched to start searching the Headmaster's quarters and office at Hogwarts, and the Hogs Head Inn. A warrant had been placed for Albus Dumbledore's arrest.


End file.
